


A Quiver Full of Code

by imusuallyobsessed



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Actor AU, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Arrow Season 2.5, Baseball, Birthday Party, Episode: s04e15 Taken, F/M, Felicity Smoak/Bruce Wayne Friendship, Fluff, Hospitals, Injury, Murder, Pop Star AU, Rating May Change, Sexual Tension, Singer AU, Summer of Sexual Tension, Team Arrow, Theroy, Warnings May Change, arrow 4x15, barricity friendship, because he totally deserves it, felicity is a model, killing malcolm merlyn, olicity - Freeform, oliver is a photographer, post 4x15, thearoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imusuallyobsessed/pseuds/imusuallyobsessed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles in the Arrowverse. Prompt me, please!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Call Me in a Flash

**Author's Note:**

> This will be drabbles I write on Tumblr (mostly) and then will transfer over to here. Feel free to head over there and prompt me! I'd love to hear from you guys. We begin with the scene from The Flash where Barry says he's been calling Felicity. She finally calls him back.
> 
> Read on [Tumblr.](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/139983489295/call-me-in-a-flash)

 

“Oh my gosh, you’re walking!”

Felicity grinned as she walked into Jitters, unable to keep a smile off her face around her favorite speedster.

It had been too long since she really smiled, and she tried to ignore how it sat on her face and pulled at muscles she hadn’t used in too long.

“Hey, Barry!” she said, hugging her friends before they sat down at a table in the back where they could talk about everything without fear of being overheard. He pushed her coffee over and she took a grateful sip. “Thanks for ordering already. Also, I’m sorry I never returned your calls until now. It meant a lot to me, knowing you cared even though I never called you back. I mean, we had stuff going on here but so did you and you still found time to call me - ”

“Felicity,” he said, putting his hand on hers and grinning. “It’s fine. I get it. We’ve all been going through some crazy stuff.”

Felicity nodded, trying to shove hurt blue eyes, rimmed in red, and a mouth she was so in love with telling her  _‘I’m trying.’_

“So… I heard about… Um…” Barry couldn’t quite finish his sentence, but he gestured to Felicity’s left hand and she understood. Her face must have fallen, because Barry scrambled to explain. “Iris told me. I know girls have that solidarity thing, but she really needed someone to yell to about Oliver and I was your friend before I was his so she decided to talk to me and…”

Felicity sighed, putting her latte down. “You know what’s been going on?” she asked, and Barry nodded. Iris had told him all about the secret child, the lies, the unilateral decision making, the deeper issues that Felicity had thought she and her fiance already worked through.

“I just… It’s not over. Not for good. I just thought we were past all this,” Felicity sighed, her fingers running across the base of her ring finger like she could still feel the ring there. “I never would’ve begrudged him a family. If anyone deserves more people to love, it’s Oliver. I’m not even _that_ angry about the lying. I just… I can’t deal with him not consulting me and not considering my opinion. That’ s not what marriage is.”

Barry nodded, biting his tongue and trying to be a supportive friend. Felicity saw right through him and tilted her head, her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

“You want to say something I’m not going to like.”

It wasn’t a question. Felicity could always see through her vigilantes.

Barry sighed. “I’m _not_ defending him. Not really. He shouldn’t have lied and he should’ve showed you that you’re both a team. And please, please don’t tell Iris about this or she’ll probably yell at me for taking his side, but… Nobody’s perfect. Especially not people who have been through everything Oliver has. He’s lived the last too many years having to make decisions for himself and the people around him to keep everyone alive. He’s not going to get over that mindset in just a few months,” he said, trying to be supportive of Felicity but also explain what he’d been thinking about since Iris’ rant.

“He’s probably never going to be entirely ‘past’ these things, as you put it. He’s going to mess up and revert back to this Solo Island Man mindset for the rest of his life. I can’t even imagine what his life was like for those five years, but he’s probably never going to entirely get over it. You have to decide if that’s something you’re willing to deal with for the rest of your life,” Barry finished, reaching out again and holding his friend’s hand.

He loved Felicity and Oliver - they were two of his best friends and they shared a mission - and he wanted them to work out. They made each other better. But, Felicity needed to acknowledge that these were situations she was probably going to deal with again and again if she kept Oliver in her life. And she _did_ want to keep Oliver in her life.

Felicity sighed, squeezing Barry’s hand. “I still love him. All of him. And you’re right,” she said, looking up at her friend. “What does it say about me that I never even thought about that? I never even thought about staying away forever. Not really.”

It was true. She wanted to give Oliver a wake-up call and she definitely needed space to think through everything that happened, but she was never going to leave forever. The very thought of it made her feel like someone was ripping out her vital organs.

Barry smiled. “It says that you love him. And I know he loves you just as much. I understand and respect why you left him, though, because space it’s something you both need,” his smile turned into a full grin, then. “And Iris told me to tell you that you better make him beg for you back.”

Felicity laughed. Her first big, true, unfettered laugh since she walked out of her true love’s life. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going down easy.”

Barry laugh with her. “Give ‘em hell, Overwatch.”


	2. You Make My Dreams Come True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver wants Felicity to take a cheeky picture at a baseball game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue fic based on [this post](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/140162823450/supersillyanddorky06-he-wears-her-name-she) on my Tumblr! Special thanks to @quebecolicityfan for this picture. (If you can help me figure out how to embed a picture... I'm trying. Please help.)

 

“Oliver, I’m _not_ taking this picture.”

“Honey, I wore the jerseys!”

“The jerseys were _your_ idea! I just made them happen.”

“Okay, just think of this as… making _another_ one of my dreams come true.”

“Don’t sweet talk me, Queen. You should know better than that.”

“I do. Remember that one time on the road trip when you didn’t want me to do that thing while I was driving but then I said - “

“ _Oliver!_ ”

“What?”

“Don’t talk about that in public! There are children here!”

“Well, you’re the one shouting.”

“I’m _whisper_ -shouting. It’s different.”

“I count at least three children around us that are now traumatized forever by your shouting.”

“Oh frack, we’re gonna get banned from _another_ stadium. I thought the first time was just a fluke, but then it happened again and I thought maybe it was just baseball stadiums, and then we went to that basketball game - ”

“Honey, we’re not getting banned from the stadium. We’re just talking. This is nothing like getting caught with our pants down in a public bathroom.”

“Oh my gosh, let’s change the subject. To anything else. Like… How about all those dreams of yours I made come true?”

“Well, you’re here with me. That’s about every dream I’ve ever had coming true.”

“…”

“Felicity? Honey, are you crying?”

“No, it’s just… stadium dust in my eye. It’s not very sanitary, you know. All those bugs crawling around and men running all over it and spitting on it and - ”

“I love you too, Felicity.”

“I love you, Oliver. And… I _guess_ I can take that picture.”

“Great! Excuse me, miss? Can you take a picture for us?”

“Oh my gosh, Oliver! You can’t just ask some random woman to take a picture of us groping each other!”

“She looks young. She’ll think it’s cool or something.”

“… If you really think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Prompt me over on my Tumblr! Same name.


	3. I Was in the Middle Before I Knew I Had Begun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actor AU! Based on this prompt from @yespleasehawkeye on Tumblr: "I need an Olicity celebrity AU where they have the Kate and Leo friendship goals but ultimately ends up with them having a “wow, we’re basically married, turns out I’m totally in love with you” post-Oscars hotel room scene after one basically professes love to the other in their acceptance speech."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Thanks to Tumblr for making this one possible. Read the original post [here.](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/140186161955/yespleasehawkeye-storyteller0311)

“Help meeeee…” Felicity muttered pitifully on the hotel bed, waggling her feet but not opening her eyes.

Oliver huffed, choosing to remove his cuff links and bow tie before any flopping. Once he was done with that, he moved to Felicity’s feet and started taking off her admittedly pretty but very pinchy shoes - her words, not his.

“Why do you always insist on wearing shoes like this? They make more comfortable ones,” he said, his fingers swift and patient as he undid the multitude of individual buckles around her foot.

“They’re so _pretty_ ,” she responded, just like she always did. “Besides, they’re gold! They match our Oscars!”

_Our Oscars._

God, Oliver had been waiting to hear those words for years. After too many years in show business, Oliver just assumed he’d never win. If he hadn’t already, after all his critical acclaim, why would he now? Felicity, ever his personal cheerleader, had somehow managed to be comforting and sure of herself even after she’d won a golden man for herself.

They met ten years ago, filming the movie that didn’t break their careers but launched them into superstar-dom. Together. They’d been friends ever since. The press tried to insinuate a relationship between them, but even when they were filming their movie they hadn’t pretended. There was something so deep, so intrinsic between them that neither had wanted to fake anything for the cameras.

Ten years later and that hadn’t changed. They even shared a hotel room, a small thing to hearken back to their early days as actors when neiter could afford to live close enough to the Dolby Theater or get a cab back on Oscar night. They’d pooled their resources and crashed together. The hotels were more upscale now, but they always felt more comfortable when they went back to the room together.

Finally, Oliver got Felicity’s shoes off - another ritual - and flopped down onto the bed beside her. The room had two luxurious beds, but they always did their debrief of the evening’s ceremony and early morning after parties together.

“Did you see Thea? She and Roy look so happy,” Felicity said, a giant grin on her face when she turned her head to look up at him.

Oliver sighed, throwing a hand dramatically over his eyes. “I did see Thea for the whole five minutes she wasn’t all over Roy and I was pretending neither of them were there,” he said, a definite pitch of over-drama in his voice.

“Drama Queen,” Felicity giggled, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

“Ten years and you still can’t think of anything better?”

“You love it.”

Both of them froze, instantly transported back to Oliver’s acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Leading Role a few hours ago.

_“… and none of this would be possibly without Felicity Smoak,” he said, pausing for a moment to let the thunderous applause ring through the room. Everyone knew about their close friendship. “She hasn’t stopped believing in me once for the past ten years and I wouldn’t be standing on this stage, accepting this award, without her. She is the one who lights my way. She makes me happier than I ever thought possible. So, as much as I’m thanking the people who voted for me, I’m thanking her twice as much.”_

Oliver remembered her face. Her huge smile had died, replaced by a look of tender awe and slight disbelief.

They hadn’t said anything after his speech or even at the after parties, constantly aware of the cameras everywhere. They’d fallen back into their easy friendship, but there was an undercurrent between them. Something that kept pulling them back to each other, inevitable and unstoppable as gravity.

Now, in the quiet hotel room, nothing between them but scant inches of space, they knew they couldn’t avoid it anymore.

“Yeah, um… Your speech. It was really good. _You_ were really good. I mean, you did really well. It was… I mean you thanked Thea at the beginning, which was super sweet, and what you said about Digg mentoring you… I swear there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And then - ”

Oliver leaned over and kissed her.

It was chaste, nothing but a press of lips, but Oliver felt it move through him like a shock wave, all the way down to his toes.

He pulled back immediately, eyes wide, taking in Felicity’s equally stunned expression and immediately tried to backtrack.

“I’m sorry,” _good start_ , “Actually, I’m not,” _what the fuck?_  “I mean… I’m sorry I just did that out of the blue, I just - ”

“Usually I’m the one talking in sentence fragments,” Felicity said, a slow smile breaking like dawn across her face and _when did he get so cheesy?_  “And I’m not sorry, either. I’ve kind of wanted to do that for a long time.”

Oliver couldn’t stop his smile. “Is it weird that I can’t even remember when I started wanting you?” he asked, hating how the question came out but Felicity seemed to understand. She always did.

“No. I couldn’t tell you, either. I just looked over at you one day realized I was in love with you. Remember that sushi place in San Francisco? Before the peanut thing. That was when I knew.”

Oliver nodded. He remembered that day vividly. Before she’d had a reaction because the sushi place wasn’t as careful about allergies as advertised, it had been one of the funnest days of his life. He and Felicity had just explored the city, together, and the day sat in his memory like an impressionist painting of sunshine, laughter and Felicity.

“Mine was later. When we watched Star Wars all weekend because you were sick.”

Felicity’s smile somehow brightened and Oliver felt like he might go blind from staring at her too long. 

There were worse fates.

“I always was smarter than you,” she said, shifting closer and carding a hand through his hair.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he responded before his lips crashed back into hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Check out my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imusuallyobsessed) for more and feel free to prompt me there!


	4. Aprons and Sticky Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver has been trying to get Felicity to eat healthy. When Felicity gets the flu, all his hard work goes out the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This stemmed from another conversation with @yespleasehawkeye on Tumblr or CheerUpLovely here on AO3.

Felicity lay on the couch under a mountain of blankets, a box of tissues and a recently-refilled 64 ounce travel cup of water within reach. Balanced precariously on the couch cushions and far enough under the blanket so Felicity didn’t have to risk exposing an arm was a bag of potato chips and a bowl of melted chocolate. Netflix was playing on the TV over the happily burning fireplace. It was winter, so thankfully it was cool enough to be burning a fire and Oliver didn’t complain when she’d asked him to turn it on before he left for work this morning.

She heard door to the loft open. Speak of the devil. It spoke to how horrible Felicity felt that she didn’t even try hiding her chocolate-and-potato-chip snack.

“Hon?” Oliver called and she heard him moving toward the couch. “I know you said I should do Arrow duty without you tonight, but… Are you dipping potato chips in melted chocolate?”

She didn’t turn over. Didn’t even move. Her entire body was one huge ache and her head and nose were so stuffed that she didn’t even know how her brain was processing information.

“Yep.”

Oliver was silent for a moment and Felicity knew exactly what he was doing.

There was a new side to Oliver she’d found during their road trip. She called it Master Chef Oliver. Ever since he discovered an undying love for cooking, he didn’t stop. Much to the chagrin of her clothes. Despite his protests – both verbal and… biblical – that he loved how she looked, she’d had to start working out. Sure, she could’ve eaten healthy, but why?

Oliver had made it his mission in life to get Felicity to give up her “teenage boy going through puberty” diet and actually eat like a healthy, functioning adult. It hadn’t gone well so far, but Oliver was nothing if not determined.

Whenever she worked at home, he always brought her these healthy snacks like organic carrots with homemade secret dipping sauce (that she thought tasted like celery but everyone else seemed to love). He would sneak around behind her when they were getting ready for a movie night and replace all her snack choices with much healthier (and far less tasty) options. Except her ice cream. He knew better than to touch her ice cream.

Even now, when she was home sick with the flu, he was trying to help her recovery while still getting her to eat healthy. Like being sick didn’t automatically give a person a pass on all things greasy and chocolatey.

Master Chef Oliver was trying to compose himself before he made his argument.

“Did you run out of the soup I made you?” he asked. She heard him opening the fridge and couldn’t help but grin, knowing he’d find the entire quart still in there.

“Nope,” she responded, popping the ‘p’ with as much power as she had in her sniffly, sick self.

“Felicity, all that sugar and grease isn’t going to make you feel better. Weren’t you listening when I read you that research study?”

Ah, yes. Her fiancée only did research outside of work for one reason: food.

“You weren’t wearing the apron.”

“When I handmade those noodles and perfectly cooked everything exactly how you like it before making _my own broth_ I most certainly _was_ – ”

“You weren’t wearing _just_ the apron.”

That made him go quiet.

Oh, the apron. Felicity may get occasionally annoyed at Master Chef Oliver, but he came with the perks of the apron she’d given him randomly one day. She’d seen it in the window when she was out shopping and couldn’t resist buying it for him. The apron was normal, but it was printed with an over-drawn, super muscular guy in tiny white underwear. _It’s not as good as the real thing,_ she’d said, _but I can’t ask you to cook naked_ all _the time._

They’d done a lot of adult, non-cooking related activities after she’d said that.

She often joked since then that she’d only eat his healthy food if he cooked it for her in that apron. _Only_ that apron. It had led to some truly fabulous countertop and dining-room-table orgasms. It was kind of an open invitation whenever he wore it.

“Felicity,” he groaned, walking over to the couch and leaning over it so he could look her in the eye. His were molten hot, but his mouth was pinched. “Remember what happened last time we had sex when you were sick?”

She pulled her face into an expression that she often said was her version of his “grumpy face.” He said he didn’t see the resemblance but that didn’t stop her. “I infected your scientifically perfect body with my impure germs and made you sick,” she grumbled, not stopping mocking him at his voice.

His mouth opened but he seemed slightly stunned for a moment before he couldn’t hold back his laugh. “I didn’t say that!” he insisted, his eyes still hot but also sparkling with humor and Felicity couldn’t resist smiling back.

“Not in so many words, but I felt the silent judgment of my less-than-scientifically-perfect immune system.”

Oliver leaned over and Felicity’s eyes slid shut in anticipation of the kiss, but she felt his soft lips and scratchy stubble on her forehead and couldn’t help but pout. Which he laughed at when he pulled back. He laughed!

“I love every part of you,” he said. “Even your inferior immune system.”

Felicity sighed and gazed up at him. “Oh, well. I guess this was a waste,” she said, throwing back the blanket to reveal Oliver’s greatest weakness.

Aka: her tight green sleep tank top and teeny-tiny pajama shorts that were dark green and covered in lighter green arrows. She thought they would just be a cute joke, but the first time she’d worn them Oliver’s eyes had darkened before he practically dragged her into bed.

It had been funny at first. Of everything he’d ever seen her in it was these sleep pants that did it the most for him? He said it was a combination of the green, the arrows, and the undeniable power of her ass.

Felicity would never admit that the majority of the working out she’d done after her clothes started to get tight in Ivy Town was squats and lunges.

“Felicity,” he said again, but it was much more of a whine this time. His hands clenched on the back of the couch, his knuckles going white. His brows furrowed over his bright, beautiful, _hot_ eyes and Felicity grinned.

“I guess I might as well change. I have this cute onesie that – ”

She never got to finish her sentence because Oliver vaulted over the couch, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her so hard she thought their mouths were going to fuse together.

Fine by her.

 

* * *

 

Felicity woke up disoriented. And still sick.

She was naked now, but there was a nice, warm Oliver draped over her on the couch so she didn’t mind. At some point, he’d put the apron on and she’d laughed the most she ever had during sex.

She grappled for her phone on the counter, wondering how much time had passed, and was distracted by how many text notifications she had. All from her mother, talking about how she was going to come see her “sick baby” and “give her some mama love” to make her get better.

She was concerned to see they came with increasing frequency until, about an hour ago, there was one that said, _I’m here!_

It was then that she noticed something weird on her face.

She reached up, pulling the small yellow sticky note off her forehead and staring at it like it had grown out of her head before she groped for her glasses to read it.

_Hi, baby! Came by to see you. Found you like this. Good job, baby! P.S. – I didn’t peek!_

Only her mother could fit so many words on such a small, yellow square.

She turned to wake up Oliver and share the story before she saw another sticky note on his forehead. And realized his ass was bared to the world since he wasn’t wearing anything under the apron.

_I didn’t really have to peek._

Felicity’s face felt like it was on fire and she was sure she was even more crimson that the flu made her. “Oliver!” she exclaimed, nudging him to get him to wake up and get off her so she could appropriately freak out and schedule her life not to see her mother for the next month.

He snuffled and groaned, which was a big difference from his normal wakeup of instant-readiness.

Maybe flu-sex wasn’t such a great idea.

“Oliver, wake up. We have to plan how we’re going to avoid my mother for the next month.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read it on my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imusuallyobsessed)! Feel free to drop me a prompt here or there and leave me a comment and kudo!


	5. 5+1 - Take Care of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity prompt: 5 times oliver takes care of felicity and the one time she takes care of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this prompt on my Tumblr! Head over there if you want to prompt me.
> 
> This go so away from me, but I love how it turned out!

**1.**

Oliver was in the kitchen, going over everything he’d already cleaned after the dinner he’d made for himself, Digg and baby Sara hours before. Digg been excited for a free meal and entertainment for his toddler (and hanging out with his friend) and Oliver didn’t want to admit he didn’t want to be alone.

Felicity had gone out on a girl’s night with Laurel, Thea, Lyla and Sara since the time-traveling Canary was taking a short break from her adventures to visit friends. As soon as Laurel heard her sister was going to be in town for four whole days, she’d rounded up the female half of Team Green Arrow and planned to start the visit with a bang.

They’d all gone out for dinner and then drinks. It was approaching midnight and Felicity still wasn’t home.

Oliver hated to admit it, even to himself, but he missed Felicity. They were hardly ever apart during their summer road trip and never for very long. They’d only been apart for a few hours and he already felt that itch under his skin that only ever came around when she wasn’t there. He was on his third clean of the kitchen and knew he’d have to go to the lair soon and make use of its exercise equipment if he didn’t want to end up calling Felicity and trying to casually ask her when she’d come home.

It was almost impossible to believe this was his life. Eight years ago – hell, two years ago – if anyone had told him he’d be so gone over a girl that he couldn’t be apart from her for a few _hours_ , he’d have laughed in their face. Yet, he was living proof.

There was a loud thump at the door that had Oliver instantly tense before he heard the clumsy scrape of a key and a familiar voice groaning, “Oliverrr…”

He grinned. She’d texted him a selfie of all the girls at a bar drinking something colorful and fruity and he’d anticipated this. His girl could drink wine like a pro but she couldn’t handle mixed drinks.

The door opened and he heard her heels clattering on the concrete floor as she stumbled a few steps in before taking off her shoes and leaving them in the entryway. It always annoyed him and she could never find them the next day, but at the moment he couldn’t help but find it endearing.

He moved to the entryway and locked the door behind Felicity. Another thing she usually forgot.

“Did you have fun?” he asked. Before he could turn around, he felt Felicity’s arms wrap around his torso and her small hands make a quick, firm path down with a pretty clear destination in mind.

“Woah, honey,” he said, spinning around and grabbing her hands. She was looking up at him with a hazy, loving expression and a huge smile he couldn’t help but return. “We’ve been over this, sweetheart.”

Felicity pouted, but it only made Oliver smile wider. “You know, most people would love a girl coming on to them no matter if she’s drunk or not,” she said, but he knew it was nothing more than a token protest. Alcohol always made her amorous, but it never went anywhere. Sure they were together, but Oliver didn’t take chances when it came to consent.

“You know you basically have an open invitation to this, right?” she asked, somehow managing to motioning to her whole body and wiggle while he held on to her arms and led her to the stairs. “I know, I know. _You’ve been drinking, Felicity. I’ll still be here in the morning_. Hungover sex with you is pretty great, though. Iris told me this story once about this time she woke up and tried to go down on a guy but as soon as – ”

“I’m not sure Iris wants me to know that, Felicity,” he said, still smiling like he had been since he’d heard her stumble against the door to their home. _Their home_. Even after months together, it still struck him sometimes that he had this, he was _allowed_ this happiness, with the only girl he’d ever truly wanted it with.

“Right, right,” she mumbled, stopping in the middle of the room and holding her arms out slightly so Oliver could unzip her tight, red dress and take it off. He hung it up and grabbed an oversized sleep shirt from her collection. When he came back to her, she already had her arms up. He slipped the shirt over her head, reached under the back of her shirt and took off her bra.

This was a well-practiced routine between them. He usually helped her a little bit at the end of a long workday with a stubborn necklace, a tricky zipper, or particularly evil shoes, but when she’d been drinking she went on autopilot and let Oliver help her.

He knew Felicity was self-sufficient and used to relying on herself. She even confessed to having an awesome pulley system back in her apartment so she could unzip her dresses by herself. Oliver took the trust she put in him, the gentle surrender of this small part of her day, and treasured it like the gift it was.

“Mmm,” she hummed when he was done, clutching his shirt and leaning into him. “My hero.”

Well, he couldn’t resist that. He leaned down and kissed her, getting lost in her lips for a moment before he realized something and pulled back. “Makeup. And I know you’re tired, but brush your teeth or you’ll have those gross teeth sweaters when you wake up,” he said, knowing she remembered these things but probably planned to skip them. Oliver knew she’d wake up complaining of clogged pores and fuzzy teeth if she didn’t, though, so he nudged her toward the bathroom and she sighed heavily before complying.

While she did that, he took off his clothes until he was down to his boxers and bustled around getting everything ready for sleep. When the lights were off, his bedside table lamp was on, and he was down to his boxers, he lay on his side of the bed and waited.

A few minutes later, Felicity shuffled into the room, and plopped down on her side of the bed. _Her side_. He could still hardly believe he was in a relationship where they had _sides_. She barely took the time to take off her glasses and set them on her nightstand before curling into her body and taking up most of his side of the bed. He curled his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“You take such good care of me,” she murmured. She was already half asleep. Oliver smiled and dropped a kiss on the crown of her head.

“I’ll always take care of you, Felicity,” he said. His tone may be a bit too heavy and serious for drunken bedtime conversation, but he didn’t care. It was the truth and he’d say it a thousand more times if she wanted him too.

“Love you too, Oliver. ‘Night.”

“Goodnight, Felicity.”

 

**2.**

Oliver knew something was wrong as soon as he got into the lair. No one else was there yet. Felicity was only there so early because it was a bank holiday and she’d given everyone at Palmer Tech a half day. They’d been texting and she seemed fine, but there was something in the tone of them that set Oliver on edge. How he could tell her tone through a text he wasn’t sure, but he could. Something was wrong.

Thankfully, the lair was right below his campaign office. He sent everyone away in the early afternoon even though Alex said a bank holiday didn’t mean campaigning stopped.

Usually when Felicity was there, the lair was a flurry of babble, clacking keys, and blonde hair flipping around as she moved from monitor to monitor. Even when her systems were updating, she always found something productive to do.

This time, Oliver stepped out of the elevator and saw Felicity curled up in her chair, staring at one of her computers, wrapped entirely in the soft, fluffy blanket she kept down there. She looked like a fluffy green mountain with a head.

“Hey, hon,” he said, starting toward her.

“Hey,” she said back, sounding more despondent than Oliver had heard in a while.

“What’s up?” he asked, climbing onto her platform (yes, it was hers) and moving to stand beside her. She nodded toward her monitor which was displaying an article in the _Star City Scandals_ , otherwise known as one of the many tabloids to which Oliver had never paid any attention. The bold headline read: _Rank the_ _Lineup of Queen’s Leading Ladies!_

“Laurel’s number one, obviously. I mean, she’s gorgeous,” he’d have to be deaf to miss how choked she sounded. “Then McKenna, which is weird because you’ve dated a _lot_ of models and McKenna’s a cop. Not that she isn’t beautiful, of course. Maybe it’s the uniform. Or carrying handcuffs everywhere. Anyway, apparently I’m ‘bangable’ but I have – ”

“ _Felicity_ ,” he said, fitting as much meaning and love into her name as he possibly could. In one motion he shut the monitor off, grabbed a chair, sat down and turned Felicity to face him. Her eyes were red and her jaw was set. He parted the blanket a little bit and took her hands gently but firmly.

“I know I shouldn’t read these things,” she said. “And I know I shouldn’t care what these people say because they don’t _know_ me or you or your relationships with any of those women but sometimes I check these things and I have an alert set up for whenever any of us are mentioned and I just _glanced_ at this one and I’m not even in the _top five_ and – ”

Oliver couldn’t listen anymore. He leaned forward and captured her lips and effectively silenced the ramble she was working toward that probably would’ve led to a few tears. There were few things Oliver hated more than seeing his girl cry.

“I couldn’t possibly care less what any of those people hiding behind a computer screen have to say,” he said, resting his forehead against hers and keeping his eyes on hers. “You’re always number one to me. In fact, there isn’t even a list. You’re it, Felicity. What I feel for you is so much more than what I felt for all the rest of those women combined that they aren’t even in your league. You’re not even playing the same game.”

She gave him a watery smile, her already ruddy cheeks coloring with a blush. He didn’t stop there. “You’re intelligent, funny, and the most open-hearted, kind person I’ve ever known. You’re an amazing boss and there’s not another person in the world I’d rather have my back, on and off missions. You’re also the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, because I love who you _are_ so much. I love kissing you, I love holding you, and I love making love to you more than I’ve ever loved it before.

“I love you, Felicity Smoak,” he said, and she finally gave him her biggest, brightest grin – which he returned – and a tiny laugh.

“Wow, did you practice that or something?” she asked, letting herself be pulled into his lap and flush against his chest.

“No, but you’re very inspiring,” he said, placing light, gentle kisses on her neck, chin, throat and every bit of skin he could reach.

He felt her smile and she held him tighter. “I love you too, Oliver Queen.”

 

**3.**

“Ow, ow, ow,” Felicity said, her lip firmly trapped between her teeth. Oliver gritted his teeth, his eyes firmly on the task in front of him as he picked up her foot and set it in his lap as gently as possible while Digg drove the van as fast as he could away from the drug bust.

“Please don’t say anything,” she said between short, pained breaths. “I had to be there.”

Yeah, Felicity did have to be there. The drug dealers were high level, really white collar. They distributed to the common street thugs, but their operation was highly organized and protected. Not all the ringleaders were actually at the bust, so Felicity needed remote access to the servers to get enough to put them all away.

He and Digg had busted in through the warehouse windows. While Felicity was running out of the building as they distracted the cronies, she stepped just the wrong way and ended up with a huge piece of glass stuck in her foot.

Her cry of pain and his distraction earned Oliver a sore jaw, but he couldn’t hear Felicity in distress and not make sure she was okay.

The glass had gone through her sneaker and up into her foot. He could see at least five inches of thick, jagged glass sticking out of the bottom of her shoe.

“I know. You did great, Felicity. I just hate that you’re in pain,” he said, watching the slow seep of blood come out of her shoe.

He felt a small hand on the uninjured side of his face and looked up to see a gentle – if slightly pained – smile on Felicity’s face. “You got hurt too, hon,” she said, her eyes soft but calculating on his jaw he could already feel bruising. “We’re going to have to think of something to tell Alex. You can’t blame these on fistfights anymore. People will think their new mayor is a bareknuckle boxer.”

Oliver couldn’t help it. He smiled. “It’s nothing, Felicity. I hardly feel it,” he said, looking back down to her foot. “I can’t take care of this now. We’re gonna have to cut your shoe off so we can get a good look at your wound before we pull the glass out,” he said.

Felicity sat back against the wall of the van and sighed. “Oh, darn. I love these shoes.”

They got back to the lair. Digg went ahead of them and held the doors open for Oliver to carry Felicity in and set her on the med table with her foot extended in front of her. He knew how much it would hurt if her leg went too far below her heart and all the blood rushed to the wound.

“Damn, girl,” Digg said, getting his first good look at it while Oliver gathered the proper supplies. “This won’t be fun. You probably won’t be able to wear those shoes you love so much for a couple weeks.”

Felicity pouted. “I know. I’m going to be shorter than all the guys in the office! Maybe I’ll institute a new company policy that everyone has to drive scooters around the office until I can wear heels again. If we’re all sitting down, no one’s that much taller than anyone else,” she rambled, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the ceiling while Oliver and Digg got to work.

Half an hour later, Felicity had succumbed to the pain meds and was babbling about everyone having miniature ponies pull them around the office while they sat on skateboards. Oliver held her hand and urged her on, unable to keep a smile off his face while Digg finished wrapping the wound.

“Stay off that for a few days,” he said, laying a hand gently on her ankle and holding her eyes to get his point across. “Then, crutches. I trust you to know when it’s getting better. Don’t feel like you’re too tough for pain meds.”

Felicity grinned, her bright blue eyes sparkling. “So, do the opposite of this one,” she said, tilting her head until it rested on Oliver’s chest.

They all laughed and Oliver raised the hand that wasn’t holding hers to her upper back. Oliver had long ago learned to find the humor when Digg and Felicity made fun of him. If it meant she’d stay off her foot and take medicine if she needed it, he’d laugh along.

Digg held open the doors for Oliver while he carried a smiley, drugged Felicity out of the lair and drove her back home.

While he settled her into bed, taking care to prop her foot on a little pillow mountain, Felicity sighed and reached for him.

He took her hand without thinking and looked at her, unable to stop smiling when he saw her hazy, loving smile and tired blue eyes. “You take such good care of me,” she murmured, pulling on him until he bent down and kissed her. “I love you so much, Oliver Queen.”

He smiled against her lips, kissed her again, and said, “I love you too, Felicity Smoak.”

 

**4.**

Their room was dark, all the lights off and spare sheets taped over the big windows that let in the lights of the city. Lit candles softened the darkness, enveloping the room with scents that Oliver’s research said were soothing. Felicity lay on the bed, face down in pillow that muffled her sobs but couldn’t hide how they shook her body.

The implant had worked. Oliver thought the image of Felicity getting up and walking out of his life would be burned into his mind forever. But, just a few hours later he’d gotten a call from Digg that Felicity needed him.

She called, he came. There wasn’t anything else to it.

After a brief trip to the hospital to check if anything was actually wrong – it wasn’t – she had asked Oliver to take her home. They were back in the loft and he was massaging her legs with sweet marjoram essential oil. He’d done some research while Felicity was getting her tests done and it was said to relieve all sorts of pain as well as have sedative properties. It was past midnight now and Oliver knew that if Felicity could just get to sleep everything would be a little easier to face in the morning.

They weren’t back to normal. She still wasn’t wearing the ring and had told him she wasn’t ready to take it back yet. There were still obstacles between them, but Oliver counted his blessings that she was letting him take care of her. If he had to know she was in pain like this and not be allowed to go to her, he didn’t know what he’d be doing right now. Probably going up and down the salmon ladder in the lair until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

“Thank you,” he said, softly as not to make her headache worse. The pain in her legs had caused a splitting headache that was expounded by all the crying, so he had created as dark and quiet an atmosphere as possible to try and get her to sleep. Even the pain meds weren’t pulling her under.

He hadn’t actually meant to say those words out loud and he couldn’t stop a small smile at the thought of Felicity rubbing off on him.

“For what?” she mumbled into the pillow. Her voice sounded less pained than before, which was good, but he could tell she was still crying.

“For letting me take care of you,” he said. _For trusting me enough to come home,_ he didn’t say. _For letting me in again despite how much I let you down_.

Felicity sighed. It sounded like the medicine was finally kicking in. Oliver massaged her legs a little more firmly, hoping to ease enough of the tension to allow her to rest. “You always take good care of me, Oliver. I never doubted that for a second,” she said. “Sometimes it’s how you go about it that’s a problem, though. But not this. This is good. So good…”

Oliver grinned, not taking his eyes off his task. It wasn’t much of a ramble by Felicity’s usual standards, but she hadn’t spoken much since he rushed into the Diggle house.

“We still need to… Talk about things. Lots of things. I’m happy I’m back here with you but I’m not ready to be back _with_ you and – ”

“Shh,” Oliver soothed. “We can talk as much as you want tomorrow. For now, just try to get some sleep.”

They would talk. Oliver owed her any explanation she wanted. He hadn’t included her, hadn’t acted like a good teammate, and the ring still sitting on the dining room table downstairs showed him that it had lost him the best thing that ever happened to him. Even if it was only a temporary loss, it still cut deep. The scar wouldn’t be physical, but it would teach him just as great a lesson as the rest.

If he wasn’t a better man for Felicity Smoak – trying or not – he would lose her.

“Stay?” Felicity said, barely audible from where she was smashed into the pillow. Oliver kept up his massage, but lighter. He didn’t want the pain to come back and wake her up but he didn’t want to jostle her too much and disturb her sleep, either.

“Always.”

 

**5.**

Summer in Star City was usually mild and wet, but this was a freak season so it was _hot_ and wet creating a muggy, thick atmosphere that was like walking through soup. It reminded Oliver of the hottest months on Lian Yu, and though wearing suits and ties and being the mayor was suffocating in the heat he truly had been through worse.

His wife, on the other hand, wasn’t handling it well.

 _I’m from Vegas, Oliver. It’s_ dry _heat. And Boston had really mild summers! I’m not built for this!_ she had complained. _And being as big as a whale with all this extra blood pumping through me isn’t helping! Women who are eight months pregnant shouldn’t have to live in heat like this._

She was sitting on the couch in their new home they’d moved into a year ago when they’d decided to start trying for a family. It hadn’t taken very long despite all the doctors telling them it would take several months for all the birth control to work out of Felicity’s system.

Oliver was in the kitchen, making the lightest, coolest lunch food he possibly could. Felicity had refused to eat anything that required heat to cook ever since summer and the heat wave rolled in which let Oliver stretch his cooking muscles to think of meals that would meet her picky pregnancy parameters and get her the calories she needed.

“This is your fault,” she moaned from the couch where she was sitting in tiny stretchy shorts and a thin tank top that left half her belly peeking out. Every fan in the apartment, plus a few they’d bought since the heatwave hit, was on and aimed at her. Her hair was up in a bun and a washcloth he’d just doused with cool water lay on her forehead.

“How is it my fault?” he asked with a smile. This was a familiar dialogue, but she always liked to complain to him. It was her right, she’d said. She was carrying his child.

“If your sperm had just _chilled out_ and _waited_ like the doctor said they would, I wouldn’t be eight months pregnant in the middle of the hottest summer on Star City record. This baby is having pool parties for all his birthdays. I don’t care what he wants. He owes me,” she said, not even opening her eyes.

Oliver was smiling so big he felt like his face was going to split in half. He had never smiled so much in his entire life as he had since he and Felicity got back together.

It took her a while to forgive him and take the ring back, but Oliver knew she deserved that time and he needed it. They got back together, got married, and two years later they were waiting for the arrival of their first child. A son. He was going to have a son and actually get to _be there_. He was going to be there for Felicity, and for every single day of his son’s life.

William still visited frequently. He and Felicity got along really well. They’d both sat down and talked to him when Felicity got pregnant, and he understood that just because they were having a baby didn’t mean they loved him any less. He took it well and was extremely excited to have a little brother. Felicity commented that she was happy William hadn’t inherited his father’s emotional stuntedness.

“I’m not sorry,” he said, bringing her a lunch tray and a smug grin.

“Don’t be smug,” she said, eagerly grabbing the tray and taking a huge bite of the watermelon, olive oil and goat cheese salad that she couldn’t get enough of and made everyone else gag. “Ugh, never mind. Be smug. Your crazy sperm impregnated me too fast and you make the best food.”

Oliver wanted to put his arm around her and drag her against him, but he knew she’d complain that he was _like a fracking furnace_ and push him away. Instead, he leaned over – taking care that he didn’t touch her – and kissed her temple.

“Did you get the – ”

“Pistachio ice cream? Yes.”

Baby Adam Thomas Queen hated mint chocolate chip ice cream, much to his mother’s dismay.

Felicity sighed, swallowing another bite of food before she groaned, “This is so not fair. I’m fat, I’m starving, the baby hates everything, I can’t even eat mint chip, and I’m _hot_.”

Unable to help himself, Oliver turned her head toward his and _properly_ kissed her. She was stiff for a second like she was contemplating pushing him away (because she was just too hot), but after a moment she melted against him. Without having to look, his hand went up to hold the tray so it didn’t slip off her lap when her grip went lax.

“You’re right,” he said right against her lips when he pulled away and laid his forehead against hers. “You _are_ hot.” Kiss. “ _So_ hot.”

“ _Oliver_ …” she said, but instead of pushing him away her hands fisted in his shirt and pulled him closer.

“I love you so much,” she said, then sighed when his hands skimmed across her belly and up under her tiny tank top.

He pulled her closer, loving the weight of her in his arms. “I love you, too.”

 

**+1**

Thunder cracked and Oliver’s eyes flew open as he sat up with a gasp. The bedroom was dark and his legs were tangled in the sheets. His heart was pounding and he was sweating and his mind was racing so fast, remembering every detail of Fyers’ torture and simultaneously taking in the room.

“Oliver,” Felicity’s soft voice said, and his eyes went to where she was standing against the wall, her entire posturing meant to be relaxed and soft as her voice.

They’d had a talk early on in their relationship. He still had nightmares and his biggest fear was that he was going to hurt her in his sleep, especially after she’d woken him from a nap in the lair and he’d grabbed her arm so hard that her skin was angry and red for hours. Oliver would only feel like he was doing the most he could to take care of her if she promised to leave the bed if his nightmares woke her up.

They’d argued, but in the end Felicity said she would do whatever would make him feel safer.

“Which one was it?” she asked, sitting back on the bed and taking his hands in hers.

“Fyers,” he said, sounding more tired than he should be considering the hours he’d been asleep. His heartrate was settling and a few more deep breaths full of the scent of home and Felicity did wonders to calm him down.

Felicity nodded. She patted his hands and stood up. “I’ll be right back,” she said, floating out of the room.

Oliver lay back down, but his eyes were still wide open. He couldn’t go back to sleep yet anyway, and he definitely couldn’t without Felicity there.

She came back in a few moments later, cradling their sleeping, five-month-old son. He was sucking his thumb and clutching his soft, pale green blanket in the other. Felicity settled back into bed, pressed right against Oliver, and laid their sleeping son on his chest.

Only then did Oliver let out the breath he’d been holding. He wrapped one arm around Felicity, pulling her even closer, and pulled up a blanket over all of them before settling his hand on his son’s back. With his whole world in his arms, it made it even easier to wind down.

“Better?” Felicity asked softly, running her fingers through his hair just how she knew he liked.

Oliver used to be afraid to have Felicity come back to bed after his nightmares, afraid he would have another and she’d be too tired to wake up. Eventually, they realized that he only really had one bad nightmare. If he fell back asleep, his sleep would be blessedly dreamless.

That fear had come back when Adam was born, but it became obvious after the first time Felicity brought their little boy in after a nightmare that his son’s presence soothed him like only his mothers could before.

“Wanna talk about it?” Felicity murmured with her eyes on his while he stared at the ceiling. Her hand never stopped moving in his hair and he felt himself relaxing completely into their bed.

He shook his head but not enough to dislodge Felicity’s fingers. “It’s the same one. I’ve told you about it before,” he said, feeling the pull of sleep even as he tried to hold on to wakefulness.

Felicity hummed, snuggling impossibly closer and putting her other hand on top of Oliver’s on Adam’s back.

He tried to fight the pull of his eyes, but Felicity dropped a kiss on his shoulder and murmured, “Go to sleep, my love. I’ll be right here.”

“Thank you,” he murmured. “Love you.”

He felt her smile against his shoulder and a murmured, “Nothing to thank me for. I love you, too, Oliver.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Drop me a comment, leave a kudo, and head over to my Tumblr! I'd love to hear from you guys.


	6. Bat Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was sort of a prompt from Melissa (dettiot here and on Tumblr), but I was already writing it before she asked so it's kind of a hybrid. She did help, though! Writing jealous!Oliver doesn't come to me easily. But, I needed more fic with Bruce Wayne and Felicity being friends! I love the dynamic between them that only exists in fic... This takes place during the Summer of Sexual Tension between S2 and S3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still not sure I really got jealous!Oliver across, but I tried. I have a hard time with him! He doesn't ever really act like a jealous caveman in canon, even when Felicity's with Ray. I tried to base this off when Felicity spent so much time in Central City visiting Barry, because that's the moment I think he was the most jealous caveman vigilante.
> 
> Feel free to leave me a comment and kudo here and head over to my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imusuallyobsessed) to prompt me! I love hearing from you guys.

“Who keeps texting you?” Oliver finally asked, the _clang_ of the salmon ladder going silent when he hopped down to make his way over to Felicity and her phone which was currently _blowing up_ , as he’d once heard Thea say.

Felicity’s grin – yeah, she _smiled_ whenever a new text came in – fell and she instantly shoved her phone under her legs. “Nothing! Just an old friend visiting Starling. We’re making plans,” she said, her tone bright. “SCPD just put the serial burglar’s information into the system, by the way. I’m double-checking all the information and – ”

It wasn’t that Oliver didn’t _know_ Felicity had friends. She was friendly, bright, and bubbly. It would be weird if she didn’t have friends. She just usually never texted her friends while she was in the lair, choosing to focus on their mutual mission.

This friend was probably just a girlfriend from college or something. They must’ve been really close. Nothing to worry about. Not that Oliver was _worrying_. After a few days, everything would be back to normal.

“Oliver, are you listening to me?” Felicity asked, looking up at him with an equal mix of exasperation and fondness in her eyes. It was times like these, when she stared up at him like that, when he remembered the beach on Lian Yu and _talk about unthinkable._ She’d given him an out. He knew what it was when it happened. But, he hadn’t taken it. What was he thinking? Did he think she would understand that it was him admitting it wasn’t a lie, everything was true, and he loved her so much he wanted to kiss her right there in the mansion before he left her to the wolves?

But she didn’t actually know any of that, because he hadn’t said it. He’d just stood there on the beach of Lian Yu, staring at her, unable to quite believe how far they’d come since a bullet-ridden laptop.

Felicity shook her head, but she was smiling. “Whatever. Just go be useful and do the salmon ladder again,” she said, turning back to her computers.

Oliver couldn’t help it. He took a step closer and put his hand on her computer desk, leaning just so she would feel his presence but without actually touching her. “How would that be useful?” he asks, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

Felicity stiffened and Oliver could see her blue eyes go wide behind her classes in the reflection of her computer. Obviously, she hadn’t meant to say all of that out loud. “Just… Go away! I’m trying to be productive. Unlike some people,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder without taking her flying hands off her keyboard.

Oliver’s skin thrilled and he felt like a thief. He lived off these little touches, these small bits of contact between them. Every time she touched him “because of the life I lead” seemed farther and farther away. Whenever she left, he had to remind himself that he had done this for a reason. They weren’t together for a _reason_. Despite that, his reasons seemed less and less valid every day.

“Well, I’m off! I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe a little later than usual, I’m meeting my friend for a late lunch,” she said, shutting down her computers and squeezing his arm before she turned and left.

The only reason he let himself stare after her was because Digg and Roy weren’t around to give him hell for it.

 

* * *

 

The next afternoon, everyone was in various stages of training or checking equipment. The serial burglars had been caught, but there were always new criminals popping up in the city. Felicity was going to be late because of her friend and no one really felt comfortable running around in the city without her. Not to mention that none of them wanted to risk her Loud Voice.

“So, should we be worried about Felicity’s friend?” Digg asked, coming to stand in front of Oliver’s work bench where he was making more arrows. Oliver had missed the few minutes of loaded glances and silent conversations shared between the bodyguard and Roy before he’d come over.

He looked up for a second, his brow furrowed, before going back to his work. “No, why should we be? She’s probably just some friend from college,” he said.

“Felicity told me and Roy that she met _him_ before she even went to MIT, but she got shifty and wouldn’t tell me any more than that,” the bodyguard mused, pretending not to notice how Oliver stiffened when Digg changed pronouns.

“ _Him_?” Oliver asked. Digg smirked. The vigilante didn’t even notice how his tone had gotten sharper and just a little more deadly.

“Yeah,” he continued, pretending not to notice the tension tightening his boss’ shoulders. “Apparently they met in Vegas and he was one of the major reasons she decided to enter the National Information Technology competition when she was 19.” Digg wondered how much more he’d have to say before the tension in Oliver snapped.

Within moments, Oliver had his phone in his hand and the tracking app that had all of Team Arrow on it pulled up. Apparently, Digg didn’t have to wait long.

“Maybe I should check on her,” Oliver said, staring at the blinking pink dot that was Felicity. “I mean, maybe she’s being threatened. Or blackmailed. Or held hostage at a bar on Lexington.”

Digg nodded and crossed his arms, biting his lips and trying not to laugh. “Yeah. Totally,” he said.

Roy didn’t even bother looking up when Oliver moved past him toward the Foundry door. He just said, “Felicity’s gonna be _so_ pissed you used her tracking app for evil.”

 

* * *

 

Sure, Felicity could’ve told her team who she was meeting tonight. There was nothing stopping her. She could’ve just opened her mouth in the middle of the Foundry, maybe after a successful mission where no one got hurt, and said _Hey guys, I’m having dinner with Bruce Wayne_.

Yeah, right.

Oliver would’ve flipped out, Roy would’ve been concerned, and Digg would’ve been way too amused. Felicity knew Bruce and Oliver had some weird rivalry thing going on and she didn’t want any part of it. She’d made that very clear to Bruce. Anyway, they were just friends. They’d met on a street in Vegas when he’d been there for a weekend to check out Wayne Enterprises’ holdings and his phone had fritzed. She’d noticed his distress and fixed it. After a brief conversation, they’d become something like friends. She called him her mentor. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have entered the National Information Technology competition.

Whenever she gave him partial credit, he always shrugged it off. _You did the work, Felicity. You just needed a boost_.

Bruce Wayne could definitely be called a boost. He was so entirely self-possessed and assured of his own victory in life that anyone he believed in was automatically put in the same light. As a 19-year-old junior at one of the most prestigious schools in the country where most people were jealous of her intellect and skills, she’d needed his belief.

When Bruce Wayne believed in you, you felt like it was impossible to fail.

Yet another trait he shared with a certain green-leathered vigilante in her life.

The little bar they were in on Lexington Avenue was upscale and much more posh than the establishments Felicity usually frequented, but Bruce had picked it and she decided that one fancy night wouldn’t kill her. Sometimes she still felt like she was dressing up in her mom’s clothes, wearing pretty dresses and shoes and going out to sip wine with billionaires on a Friday night.

But Bruce had always been a brother and mentor first and billionaire second.

“How’s Dick?” Felicity asked, sipping on her Malbec. Bruce had just adopted the boy six months ago and she’d heard several stories during his sporadic calls about the adjustment period. It probably would’ve been hard even if they weren’t trying to hit their stride as a crime-fighting vigilante duo.

Bruce sighed. “He’s not difficult on purpose, but his parent’s death still weighs on him. I know what it’s like, though, so I try to be compassionate,” he said, staring at his scotch thoughtfully.

Felicity couldn’t help her thoughts turning to the other vigilante in her life. He’d watched both his parents die in front of him and it certainly sat heavy on his heart. She could tell that Oliver felt guilty for not going to Moira’s funeral and being there for Thea once he came out of his grieving stupor.

“He’s still adjusting to… ‘normal’ life. I wouldn’t call our lives normal, but he’s not a carnie anymore and sometimes he forgets,” he said, but there was a ghost of a smile on his face like it wasn’t the trouble he made it out to be.

“Carnie is such a mean word,” she said, scrunching her nose. “I sense a story there.”

Bruce needed no further prompting. It was something she noticed among her usually tight-lipped friends: they had no problem opening up to her. Sure, Oliver was growly and taciturn most of the time, but he always had a quick smile or a soft word for her or a gentle but firm look that meant ‘I don’t want to talk about the island.’

Felicity laughed along with the story of Dick Grayson practicing his acrobatics on Wayne family heirloom chandeliers when something familiar flashed in her peripheral vision.

It couldn’t be.

“Felicity!”

Yep. It was Oliver.

Felicity turned with a reflexive smile already on her face. What was Oliver doing here? This wasn’t a place he would go. It was too quiet and upscale and… yeah, there were already people staring. When he wasn’t being Playboy Douchebag King of Starling City Ollie Queen, he preferred much more relaxed environments like Big Belly Burger. So, why was he here when she was here with Bruce Wayne?

… _The app_. It was the only thing that made sense. Frack it, that app was for emergencies only! It was the only reason she’d consented to making such a thing and putting a tracker on her precious, super-personalized and upgraded phone!

“… Felicity?” Oliver said, his smile a little more dim now and his head tilted to the side. _So hot_. No, not hot! Bad! Bad vigilantes using her tech for evil!

That’s when Felicity realized that she’d just been sitting there with this probably awkward frozen expression on her face for who knew how long.

“Oh, um… Hi, Oliver!” she said, turning back to Bruce. “Bruce, I’m sure you know Oliver.” She made a sort of awkward flailing motion between the two men and they took it as an invitation to shake hands. Felicity would’ve bet money that they were doing the weird guy I’m-squeezing-your-hand-so-hard-because-I’m-manlier dick-measuring thing.

“Wayne.”

“Queen.”

“Smoak!” Felicity interjected with a smile, trying to bring back the levity of her previous conversation with Bruce. “So, Oliver, what’re you doing here?”

Oliver pulled up a chair – without invitation, she might add – and sat down before answering, “Oh, I was just in the neighborhood. I saw you through the window and thought I’d stop by.”

Sure. And all the criminals in Starling City had just turned themselves into the police. And pigs were flying.

“Uh huh,” Felicity said, meeting his eyes and making it clear she didn’t believe him but keeping a smile. “So, you didn’t use the tracking app I created for Team Arrow emergencies only – like kidnapping or a city-wide disaster – to find me because I didn’t tell Digg or Roy or you where I would be tonight?”

Oliver’s eyes went wide and he shot a glance to Bruce. How was it that he was handsome literally _all the time?_ He was confused and a bit uncomfortable right now but he still looked like he could walk in Armani’s Autumn 2014 Show: Confused & Uncomfortable.

“What?” Oliver asked with a laugh, a smile on his face that made him even more unfairly handsome.

Felicity realized she’d probably said all that out loud, but fingers crossed it was so fast that neither Oliver nor Bruce really understood what she was saying.

“Nothing! Anyway, Bruce knows about you already Oliver. And he knows about me. I didn’t _tell_ him, by the way. He figured it out, before you go jumping down my throat like you did with Barry. Not like… _down_ my throat like… _that_! I mean you were really mean about it even though I was trying to save your life and I kind of had prior vigilante experience so when I moved here and all of a sudden the Arrow got really technologically advanced Bruce called and – ”

“Felicity,” Bruce said, a smile in his voice as he took her hand across the table to stop her rambling. Felicity thanked her lucky stars that she was speaking at a normal volume and there was a general fancy-place hum in the air that meant no one could hear what she just said.

Felicity smiled at him and noticed Oliver’s hands clench into fists on the table so hard that his knuckles went white.

Felicity pointedly ignored that, like she did a lot of Oliver’s behavior since the Great Slade Wilson Fake-Out. Like she ignored the heavy touches on her shoulders, the fingers brushing hers, and the glances that lingered so much she swore she could feel them.

“Anyway,” she said, shaking her head before putting on another bright smile. “I had a great time, Bruce. Let’s hang out again tomorrow, okay? You’re still in town for a few days. I’ll give Mr. Fox a call and draw up some specs for that tech we were talking about.”

Oliver’s whole body tensed and his expression froze. It wasn’t the normal kind of tense that was obvious, but Felicity could see how he’d gone totally still and his eyes were fixed on her face. She was talking tech! What was so tense-worthy about that?

“You know he insists you call him Lucius.”

Felicity smiled but shook her head. “That’s like… I don’t know… Calling Bill Gates ‘Bill’ or Alan Rickman ‘Alan.’ It feels wrong.”

Bruce shook his head with a wry smile and stayed seated while Felicity stood up, basically dragged Oliver out of his seat. “It was a pleasure as always, Felicity. Tomorrow you can pick the place,” he said, shaking his head and holding out his hand in the universal sign to stop when Felicity reached for her wallet. “I chose the place, I’ll pay. You can make it up to be tomorrow.”

How could everyone else in her life say innuendos without a hint of embarrassment? It was a skill she desperately needed to learn.

“Okay! See you tomorrow!” she said, taking Oliver’s arm and leading him out of the bar before either men could try to have another dick-measuring contest under the guise of saying goodbye.

They’d barely made it a few steps before Felicity whirled on him. “What was that?” she asked, her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the sidewalk in her heels. “You can’t just track my whereabouts whenever I’m hanging out with someone who isn’t part of Team Arrow. That’s not what I created that app for! If you’re going to use it for evil, I’m taking the tracker out of my phone!”

Oliver crossed his arms and Felicity very pointedly kept her gaze away from his gorgeous, muscled forearms underneath his dress shirt he’d thrown on to be more presentable at the bar. “What did Bruce mean about the tech you talked about?” he asked, sounding almost accusatory.

Felicity took a deep breath to blow up, but her genius mind sped up and laid a conclusion before her that she couldn’t deny. Her expression turned into a gape and she pointed a finger at Oliver. “You’re _jealous_. Of Bruce Wayne!” she said, thankful that the street wasn’t too busy so they could have this conversation.

Oliver flinched and she knew she’d won. “No, I’m not,” he insisted, furrowing his brows like that would make it true. But Felicity saw his jaw clench and his arms tighter across his chest and his face get that pinched expression.

“You _are_!” she insisted. “You’re jealous because I’m helping Bruce with his nighttime activities! I mean… not like that! Like I help _you_ with _your_ nighttime activities. Which doesn’t sound any better. But, you get it! There’s just no way to say ‘nighttime activities’ without that – ”

“Felicity,” he said, and _wow_ it was way different when he said it.

He said her name like it had a hundred meanings and he loved all of them.

No, not loved. Like them all. He liked them all in a very platonic, he said ‘I love you’ for a fake out and didn’t deny it later and has spent all summer _touching_ her and _looking_ at her and staying in her guest room when the Foundry wasn’t working out way.

“ _Anyway_ , you’re jealous.”

“I just… I want to make sure your head it in the game,” he said, and immediately knew it was the wrong thing.

Felicity bristled, her eyes flashing. “Oh, not _this_ again. Remember what happened last time you said my head wasn’t in the game? With Barry? You were wrong then, too. Wanna go ahead and apologize before we fight and you apologize to me anyway? Because you’re being _ridiculous_?”

They were silent for a moment. Felicity had her arms crossed and her stance firm, refusing to look away from Oliver as his eyes darted around and tried not to rest on Felicity. After a moment, he deflated.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low and sincere as he looked up at her from under his thick, beautiful lashes with his blue, blue eyes. How the frack was she supposed to resist that? “I just got worried. And jealous. You know I don’t think clearly when I’m like that.”

Oh, no. Felicity would _not_ melt at the first flash of his beautiful eyes. “I understand that you get worried, and objectively I was maybe see why you got jealous of Bruce, but that doesn’t excuse your behavior. You could’ve texted or called or _talked to me_ ,” she said, a little of the anger melting out of her but she stood firm. This was a point she needed to make. If she let Oliver get away with just tracking her location and getting jealous of other vigilantes she hung out with, it set a bad precedent. _That_ was as sentence she never thought she’d say.

Oliver nodded, glancing down at the ground again before looking back up at her. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I know you’re just being yourself. You help everyone and you’re really good at it. I just… It’s different when you’re not helping me. _Us_. The team. We need you.”

He was just so fracking _sincere_ and _sweet_ and nothing like anyone else saw of him. Was she really supposed to stay mad at him for that long?

“Hug it out,” she said, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his torso under his arms. She hugged him tightly for a moment, secretly delighting in the feeling of his muscled body against hers as he gently hugged her back, before she pulled away and looked up at him. “Forgiven. But don’t do it again!”

He grinned. The smile transformed his face and added this new, indescribable warmth to his eyes that made Felicity feel like she was basking in the sun. “I’ll try my hardest,” he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder and walking down the street as she wrapped an arm around his waist. Neither commented on how not-very-platonic that was.

Felicity leaned into Oliver, trying to just relish the moment and not think about how _right_ it felt to be beside him. “Just so you know, you’re my favorite vigilante,” she said, her voice quiet and her eyes dancing with humor and light when she looked up at him. “Don’t tell. It’s a secret.”

Oliver couldn’t stop a helpless, warm grin from taking over his face. “You’re secret’s safe with me,” he said, and Felicity tried not to think too hard about the words she heard between the ones he actually said. _He took the wrong woman. Do you understand?_

“So,” he said, his tone indicating a change in subject. “What did you mean you have prior vigilante experience?”

Felicity bit her lip and decided to go with the truth. “I mean… Bruce Wayne is the Batman. I know you know and it’s not really a confirmed thing but Boston is kinda close to Gotham and he’s been a really great professional mentor and I really do good satellite work and we had been friends for a long time…”

Oliver laughed, which was unexpected. She suspected some growling or furrowed brows.

“I’m not surprised. You’re like a vigilante magnet,” he said, looking down at her with _that_ smile on his face. The only she liked to think he only used when he was around her.

“Well, you know, it started because I got kidnapped once when I was visiting him in Gotham.”

“ _What?_ ”

Okay, maybe she should’ve left that part out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? I love Bruce and Felicity as mentor/mentee/friends. I'm almost sure I'll write more prompts with Bruce Wayne, so feel free to ask away if there's anything you want to see!


	7. Without Masks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @whitecanarrow on Tumblr posted this and I kind of hijacked the prompt:
> 
> Episode of Arrow I’d love to see:
> 
> The team’s all in their civilian identities at some important event and the place gets taken hostage. They have to figure out a way to stop the criminals and get out of the situation and preserve their secret identities, all without their costumes.

“This is not what I meant when I said I wanted a dress I could move around in,” Felicity murmured to no one in particular, trying not to attract the attention of the bad guys but unable to keep the sarcasm at bay.

No, when Felicity had picked out the gorgeous, extremely comfortable red gown from the little shop near the Glades she favored for events like this, she wasn’t imagining the gala getting held up and the criminals forcing everyone to get on the ground.

She _did_ imagine some illicit making out – maybe even wall sex – with her fiancé in the private coat check of the Star City Museum of Art. Unfortunately, it looked like that wasn’t where her evening was going.

She supposed it was good she did have that freedom of movement. Felicity still didn’t know how Thea had managed it so gracefully with how tight her skirt was.

“Felicity, I love you, but now is not the time,” Oliver said, looking at her from his place on the ground not even a foot away. His blue eyes were a mix of exasperated, loving, and angry. Felicity tried to channel her inner Overwatch and not be afraid, but being right in the middle of a hold-up they hadn’t expected with none of their gear to help them was a lot more terrifying than the field work she usually participated in.

She _did_ know a few things, though. She had the Green Arrow, Speedy, the Black Canary, and Spartan right beside her and if anyone could handle this, it was Team Green Arrow.

Felicity’s heart was beating so fast she could barely hear what the criminals were saying, but when the paid attention she felt her blood run cold.

“The people of this city are done being stepped on by _you_ – the _privileged_ ,” one of the goons said, spitting the world like it was a curse. To him, Felicity assumed it was. His voice sounded like he was walking around the room, but Felicity found herself frozen staring at Oliver. He had a hand halfway across the space between them to comfort her but was looking around the room. Probably making a plan. Plans were good. “You have these fancy parties in your pretty clothes and donate money to charities that never put any of it back into the city so you can go to sleep at night and pat yourselves on the back for _giving back_.”

The voice stopped and so did the footsteps. They sounded very close and Oliver had gone so tense she thought he might snap. They were all in a precarious situation. Of course they had to stop these criminals, but they had to do it without revealing who they were. Without masks.

“Let’s start here,” the voice said, and before she knew what was happening Felicity felt a _very strong_ hand grip her arm and drag her to her feet. There was a gun against her heard and a strong arm around her throat before she could do as much as gasp.

“Easy there. Don’t be a hero,” the man said, squeezing her neck tighter and training his gun on Oliver until a few of the other goons could run over. Three men stood over her fiancé with assault rifles and if Felicity wasn’t already terrified, she was now.

 _We’re getting out of this,_ she thought to herself, taking a deep breath and clenching her jaw.

The man started speaking again. If he wasn’t threatening her and everyone in the room, she’d think he had a really nice voice: deep and soothing. “Mrs. Queen,” he sneered, holding her even tighter and moving the gun down her side as if he was caressing it. Which was really, really creepy. Felicity tried not to make any desperate, some-guy-is-strangling-me faces, but from the murderous look in Oliver’s eyes she didn’t seem to be succeeding.

The man started speaking again, but Felicity was focused on Oliver. He looked furious and scared, yes, but he also looked… calculating. Somehow, in the midst of everyone being taken hostage, he’d formulated a plan.

She really hoped that whatever her part was, she could make it happen.

His blue, blue eyes very pointedly went to her feet and then her thigh, which was weird… Her _phone_. The dress had pockets – a truly marvelous detail – and she had her phone in one of them! Her brain kicked into overdrive. If she could get a hold of it, she could cut the power to the building. Once it was dark, her team could go to work.

Why the foot, though? She ran through various possibilities in her mind, putting her genius to work, and came up with one conclusion. The superficial peroneal nerve was just above where the foot met the ankle. Stepping on it very hard – especially in heels – was an almost surefire way to get out of any chokehold.

Oh, bless Digg and his extremely practical self-defense lessons.

That also meant the entire plan hinged on her being able to do this. No pressure.

She nodded just barely, not enough to catch the crazy guy’s attention, and Oliver’s gaze went heavy and serious. Very deliberately, he started rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, the smallest bit of love warming his expression.

Their signal when they were in a crowd. _I love you_.

With that, Felicity raised her foot and brought the heel of her beautiful, expensive red shoe down on her attacker’s foot and dove out of the way just as someone pulled a fire alarm.

It wasn’t to call the fire department. The police were already swarming outside trying to diffuse the situation. Whoever had pulled the alarm – Digg was closest if her memory was correct – did it to give her the few extra seconds she needed to hack the building’s system and shut everything down.

The room went black, the fire alarm still blaring and pouring water because it was on a separate system. Everyone was shouting, guns were going off almost constantly, and Felicity decided to stay where she was. Sure she was huddled on the ground in the middle of the room and might get trampled at any moment, but it was better than standing up and risking a bullet.

“You okay?” a familiar voice asked, and Felicity sighed.

“Yeah, you know, just saving the day,” she responded, smiling even though it was dark. Felicity imagined that Digg smiled back.

“Good job, Overwatch. Let’s move.”

Digg helped Felicity maneuver to the wall and stay low, simultaneously avoiding the trampling problem and the gun problem. It was dark and she had no idea how he could see, but just like her team had trusted her to get this started she trusted them to finish it.

Once they were mostly out of the fray, still crouching, she felt Digg press her into the wall and stay there between her and the danger. Normally Felicity would’ve argued, but she didn’t have a gun and he did.

“Is everyone okay? Do you know?” she asked, not having to raise her voice too high because she moved her mouth closer to what she hoped was Digg’s ear.

She felt the man shrug. “Last I saw, everyone was fine. My job was to get you,” he answered. Felicity nodded, simultaneously happy and guilty that she had her own personal bodyguard in this mayhem. She felt a reassuring hand reach back and grab her arm. “I use a gun and I can’t shoot in here. I can’t risk hitting a civilian. Trust me, us sticking together was the best plan.”

Felicity nodded again, automatically feeling better.

The sounds of fighting had died down and except for one small thrill of fear Felicity knew her team had come out on top.

“Felicity? Lights, please,” Oliver called, sounding worried, relieved and a little desperate.

Without pause, she turned the system back on and stood up with Digg.

The room was empty except Team Green Arrow and the bad guys – all of whom were unconscious. Oliver and Thea were in the middle of the room, the latter with two new slits in her skirt, and Laurel was nearer the door. Somehow, they’d gotten everyone out.

That was all she could see before she was surrounded by her favorite set of arms. “You did great, Felicity,” he said into her neck, hugging her just a little tighter.

She returned the embrace instantly and took a deep, reassuring breath. “ _We_ did great,” she corrected.

“Pretty badass,” Thea added, walking up to the embracing couple. They disengaged but still held hands as the team formed a circle when Laurel joined them a few moments later.

“Did everyone get out?” Felicity asked.

Laurel nodded. “There are some injuries and a few people in critical condition. At least, that’s as much as I could tell in the dark. I don’t think we lost anyone, though,” she said, a tired but happy smile taking over her face. “I’m putting this one in the win column.”

The rest of the team smiled too, though Oliver’s was barely a twitch of his mouth. He had a hard time smiling about anything – even a victory – when she had been in danger. Felicity took it as her solemn duty to rectify that.

Felicity squeezed his hand and grinned up at him when he glanced down at her. “I remembered the _superficial peroneal nerve point_ ,” she said with as much weight and dignity as the phrase deserved which immediately made her fiancé break into a smile.

“My genius,” he said, putting his arm around her and kissing her hair.

“Okay, save the life-affirming sex for later,” Thea said, just looking up at her brother when he glared at her. “We need to get outside and give our statements. Green Arrow and co. sighting?”

Everyone nodded. They knew the plan without even having to say anything: lots of confusion, few details, vigilantes, and a blackout.

They walked out of the room, Felicity and Oliver bringing up the rear. His arm was still around her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his waist.

“I’m proud of us,” Felicity said, looking up at Oliver when he made a curious noise. She met his eyes and smiled, not even caring that Thea would classify her look as _grossly in love_. “Sometimes it’s good to remember that we can be heroes without masks.”

Oliver paused for a moment, shock on his face, but when he processed Felicity’s words he smiled, took her face in his hands, and kissed her soundly.

They were still in much the same position – perhaps a bit closer with hands in less savory places – when Thea’s voice shouted back, “I said _wait_ on the sex!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Drop me a comment and kudo, check me out on Tumblr (same name), and prompt me! I'd love to hear from you!


	8. Call It a Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt on my [Tumblr.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imusuallyobsessed)
> 
> Anonymous: Hey! Can you write something where Oliver and Felicity are both injured in an explosion? Thanks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! These are so fun, guys! Come to my tumblr and prompt me!

Felicity’s ears were ringing. She blinked slowly, her vision blurry but her glasses still perched on her nose. Somehow.

She remembered a boom, heat, and falling.

 _Oliver_.

“Oliver?” she called, struggling to sit up. She couldn’t hear her own voice but she felt the vibrations in her throat, so she must’ve said something. As soon as she moved, her head started to swim and she immediately turned and dry heaved. Thankfully, there was nothing in her stomach.

The Plaza was in chaos. Oliver had been giving his acceptance speech for mayor. Ruvé and Darhk had been defeated and the mayoral seat had fallen to Oliver. The people loved him even more now that he’d played a role in exposing the evil threatening their city – though only a few knew how big that role was.

They knew defeating them wasn’t enough. Merlyn was still as power-hungry as ever and he’d taken over Darhk’s place in H.I.V.E. The team had taken a moment, _one moment_ to breathe and let Oliver accept his new position in Star City when the Demolition Team had struck. They’d _obviously_ escaped prison and were still working for H.I.V.E.

Instead of taking down a building, they’d decided to blow up the Plaza. Obviously, Merlyn was serious when he said “death would be a mercy compared to the debt I now owe you.”

Felicity had been standing right beside Oliver during his speech. She’d tried to step back and let him have his moment, but he’d just taken her hand, said “you’re coming with me” and she’d followed him without another protest. The ring she’d put back on her finger just days before made them both giddy like they were a new couple all over again.

Everyone was taking it well despite the good-natured ribbings about being whipped.

The Plaza was a madhouse. Smoke filled the air, rubble was everywhere, and the area was filled with the sounds of screams, pounding feet and groans of pain. There had been a bomb right under the platform.

She looked around, trying to make out anything through the thick smoke and haze of her own pain. Besides the concussion she most definitely had, something was wrong in her chest. It felt like she was breathing in needles and she could barely do more than take short, shallow breaths that weren’t helping her focus at all.

“ _Felicity!_ ”

Oh, thank God.

“Oliver!” she called back as loud as she could, which wasn’t very loud because of the needle-breathing, horrible chest pains, pounding headache, and probable smoke inhalation.

He heard her anyway.

Oliver came out of the smoke. Felicity would recognize him anywhere.

“Felicity,” he said again, collapsing beside her. She didn’t miss how his face contorted in pain before he focused on her. Light, quick hands were running all over her body and his frantic eyes looked even bluer staring at her from his soot-streaked face.

When his hands touched her torso, she hissed in a breath, coughed because of the smoke, and tears sprang into her eyes because coughing was _excruciating_ and she felt like all her bones in her chest were collapsing. “Something’s wrong,” she managed to say, though she didn’t think she needed to with how serious and scared Oliver’s face went as soon as she winced in pain. “Ribs, I think.”

Oliver nodded. His face was grim.

When he didn’t immediately stand and sweep her into his arms like some crazy Tarzan-man, she knew something was wrong.

“You’re hurt,” she said. Not a question. From her position lying on the ground, she managed to turn her head – ignoring the pounding – and surveyed him.

He seemed mostly alright, just a lot of scratches and bruises under the soot. Except for the giant piece of rebar going all the way through his thigh. _All the way through_. She could see it coming out the back because of the way he had to sit as not to jostle the injury.

He could barely stand. She could barely move.

They were stuck in the fray, weaponless, with possible enemies everywhere and invisible in the smoke.

“Is this how regular people feel in these situations?” Felicity asked, trying not to sound scared and failing. Her weak voice was high, breathy, and much more distressed than she wanted. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure it had to be jostling her wounded ribs. Oliver’s hand immediately found hers and squeezed. “I never realized how scary it was from this side of things. My phone got tossed, yours probably did too, I have no idea how you ever stood up to find me but you probably can’t repeat that, I can’t even move, the Demolition Team is probably trying to find and kill you, we don’t even know if the team – ”

“Felicity,” Oliver said, squeezing her hand tighter. Despite their various injuries, he leaned down and kissed her. It was short and chaste, but Felicity felt the tension leave her – as much as it could – and just a tiny bit of calm came with the scent of Oliver in her nose. Even though they probably both smelled like smoke and C4.

“We’re going to be fine,” he said when he pulled back, his grave eyes trained on hers. Felicity knew that voice. It was his deep, serious, making-a-vow voice. Felicity knew that, no matter what happened, he would fight with every last breath in his body to keep his promise when he used that voice.

Despite the smoke, despite the terrorists running around, and despite her injuries, she felt herself relax a little against the uneven ground beneath her. Oliver wasn’t going to let anything happen.

“Okay,” she said. It was as if the tension she carried was the only thing keeping her present. She suddenly felt _so tired_ , like the struggle of opening her eyes again after she closed them was too much. “You do that. I’m just… I’ll rest my eyes…”

“Felicity. Felicity!” Oliver shouted, but she didn’t open her eyes. She was so _tired_. How did he have the energy to shout? She couldn’t even feel if he was shaking her. “Felicity, _don’t fall asleep!_ ”

That was the last thing she heard before there was nothing.

 

* * *

 

There was an annoying beeping.

What was beeping? Had Oliver set some super-annoying alarm? He didn’t normally set alarms. He just got up with the sun – or before it – like some kind of mythical woodland creature or woke up when Felicity did.

She tried to moan, but that lasted about half a second before it felt like someone set her throat on fire.

“Felicity?”

Oliver. He was here and he sounded worried. Were they not in their room? Had something happened?

“Baby, can you open your eyes for me?”

She wanted to say _if it’s you asking, I’ll do it_ , but she remembered the bonfire her throat had been a few seconds ago and decided against it. There was only one response.

Slowly, because every single part of her body somehow ached, her opened her eyes.

And immediately shut them again.

It was _bright_. That was when she knew she had to be in the hospital. Unfortunately, she had a lot of hospital experience. They kept the room way too bright unless it was nighttime, and then the hallway lights were still on and kept her awake.

Wait, why was she in the hospital?

“There she is,” Oliver said, sounding relieved but still a little worried. “Digg, can you…?”

Before he could finish asking, Felicity saw the glow behind her eyelids dim. Digg was there and he must’ve shut off the lights.

“Can you open them again for me, Felicity? It’s dark now.”

She did as he asked – because it was him asking – and sighed just a little when she met the blessed dimness of the room.

Oliver was sitting beside her, holding her hand. There was a cast on it. She felt one of those annoying tube things under her nose but she didn’t try to take it out. It seemed to actually be helping because something was definitely wrong with her torso. She felt like she’d been run over by a truck and broken every single bone a hundred times.

Oliver looked awful. He was pale with dark circles under his eyes, but they were so bright and blue and relieved that Felicity felt her mouth twitch into a little smile. Digg was by the door, looking rumbled, cut up and bruised. He had his left arm in a sling but it didn’t look to be bothering him too much.

Felicity took a breath to ask what happened but Oliver beat her to it.

“Don’t try to talk. Your throat is pretty messed up from all the smoke,” he said. Now that she noticed, he sounded pretty gravelly too. “Do you remember what happened?”

Felicity tried for a moment, forcing her tired brain to work, but there was some kind of block. She remembered getting ready for Oliver’s acceptance speech. They’d been so _happy_. She was letting him zip up her navy dress, neither of them able to stop smiling. His hands had slipped inside her dress, running across her skin and they’d gotten a bit… distracted. The ring had only been back on her hand for a few days and they both felt the same breathless happiness whenever they remembered they were back together. They’d chosen each other again – for better or worse – and it was going to last this time.

She shook her head just a little and even that set her head pounding again. She was a little nervous, obviously unable to remember several hours of her life. Despite that, she knew that if Oliver and Digg were there then she’d be alright.

“You have a concussion. The Demolition Team hit the Plaza during my speech. There was a bomb right under the platform we were on,” he said, trying to sound neutral and soothing but unable to keep a little bit of the leftover fear and anxiety out of his voice. “You got thrown forward and I just fell on the platform. Some rebar went through my leg but… I don’t know how I did it, but I had to find you. I think you passed out, but you were awake when I found you. You have a concussion, broken wrist, bad smoke damage to your throat, broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a lot of internal bleeding.”

Felicity heard everything he hadn’t said, but Digg jumped in to fill it in anyway. “You were in bad shape, Felicity. Oliver got out of surgery after about an hour. Yours lasted about seven hours and you’ve been out since then. It’s afternoon, now. You’ve been under since your surgery yesterday,” he said, staying by the door but the concern in his voice made it feel like he was right beside her holding her other hand. “It was pretty touch and go. You flat lined twice.”

Felicity gasped a little, more conscious of her now-inflated lung and broken ribs. It still hurt, but she couldn’t _not_ react. She turned to Oliver, her eyes wide, and took in his desperate, haunted expression. That was all the confirmation she needed.

“I’ll go tell the rest of the team. Thea’s with Alex checking on everyone else who was injured in the explosion and Laurel is coordinating with her dad and SCPD. They got the Demolition Team and are going to make _extra_ sure they stay put this time.”

With another smile for Felicity, he left. She knew he was giving her time alone with Oliver and she was grateful.

“Hey,” she said, keeping her voice quiet and low to irritate it as little as possible. She squeezed his hand and his eyes moved up to hers from where they’d been focused on the bedsheets. “I’m alive.”

His face crumpled, his eyes went glassy, and his free hand tightened on the bedsheets so he didn’t squeeze her cast. Gently, so gently, he brought her hand up to his face and kissed each finger with soft, delicate movements.

“You almost weren’t,” he said quietly, sounding absolutely wrecked.

“ _Hey_ ,” Felicity said, bringing her other hand over to squeeze his in both of hers. “None of that. I’m hurt and I’m probably going to be hurting for a while, but I’m alive. _We’re_ alive. Your leg isn’t shattered beyond repair, Digg only has a hurt arm, and I assume Laurel and Thea aren’t worse for wear if they’re running around. I’m a little battered, but I’ll be fine.”

Oliver put his other hand on hers and kissed both her hands. “I love you so much,” he whispered against her skin, his stubble scratchy compared to his soft lips and his breath was warm and comforting.

Felicity didn’t even want to think about how long it would be until they could have proper sex again. It would just make her depressed.

“I love you too,” she said with a smile. “So, so much. Today… Or yesterday? The past two days? Whatever. Today didn’t go as planned, but when do our days ever go as planned? We’re alive, we got the bad guys, and no one died… No one died, did they?”

Oliver shook his head, his eyes crinkled. She would feel him smiling against her hands.

“And no one died. I’m putting this one in the win column. Another win for Team Green Arrow. You’re officially not allowed to brood about anything that happened from this point forward because today, we won,” she said, powering through her aching head and burning throat and broken bones because she knew her fiancé. He needed to hear this, and he needed to hear it from her.

“You’re remarkable,” he said in that special tone of voice she’d only ever heard him use with her.

“Thank you for remarking on it.” They both grinned, lost for a moment in memory.

“I won’t turn into Guilt Arrow. For you. But, I’m definitely going to review who we put on security and tighten it in the future. Someone didn’t do an appropriate sweep of the area,” he said, his tone still light and his eyes still happy but a little more serious.

Felicity sighed, her smile softened. “As long as there’s no Guilt Arrow, I’m happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Drop me a comment and a kudo and follow me on Tumblr for more!


	9. Operation: Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Thanks for writing that fic it was fantastic! You like getting prompted? Well I have some ideas if you want em. Here are a few (i am in a pain-filled/angst mood): 1. Post 410. Felicity's in a rehab hospital. Oliver visits her around dinner time + she doesn't tell him that she had a bad fall until a nurse comes in with an ice pack. 2. Oliver breaks his arm and has trouble accepting not being the green arrow for a while. 3. 410 redo where Oliver never leaves and Felicity's awake in the er
> 
> What I did: I mashed up Oliver staying with Felicity, but it's at the rehab hospital where she has a fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Another prompt! I seriously love these. Head over to my Tumblr (same name) and hit me up!

Oliver hadn’t left Felicity’s side in days, but she was insistent this time.

_I need coffee, Oliver. You don’t understand what I’ve been going through trying to drink the nasty stuff they have here! You’d think they’d have great coffee with a bunch of doctors running around, but it’s like the universe is conspiring against me…_

Then, she’d gone on to rant about how everyone smiled all the time and it was so bright and sunshine-y and sometimes she woke up from nightmares that all the rehab doctors were actually kangaroos in human suits trying to lull her into a false sense of security.

He’d laughed at that until she got back to her original point.

_I need it. Oliver. Honey. Darling. Love of my life. Can you please run to Jitters and get me my usual? You’re the only one who ever puts the right amount of sugar in it. I can barely make it for myself anymore._

How could he say no to that? Sure, she was manipulating him, but he decided to let her.

So, he left the hospital with a promise to return as quickly as he could with her beloved coffee.

He was gone for barely forty minutes. Not because he wasn’t speeding and possibly (definitely) breaking a few minor traffic laws to get to her faster, but because the rehab hospital was in the suburbs of Star City and a little too far from the closest Jitters. That had been one of her biggest complaints about Ivy Town, though she’d bought an overly large, ridiculously expensive coffee machine that made lofty promises of never needing to go to a coffee house again.

That didn’t stop her from going to every Jitters they passed whenever they were out together, but he didn’t mind.

He returned to Golden Hills Rehabilitation Center – _Golden Hills, Oliver! They’re definitely hiding something_ – and navigated his way through the bright, calm halls to Felicity’s room.

“Mr. Queen!” called a friendly voice. Oliver paused and looked at the nurse’s station to see Dr. Dandekar filling out paperwork.

“Dr. Dandekar,” he said, not minding this small detour. She was one of the few doctors that didn’t creepy Felicity out, though she still smiled a lot.

“I told you to call me Kala, young man. None of this ‘Dr. Dandekar!’ With how much time you spend here, we must be friends by now,” she insisted, repeating the banter they had perfected during his time at the hospital.

“Only if you call me Oliver, Dr. Dandekar.”

The older woman threw her hands up in the air but looked back up at Oliver with mirth in her eyes. “I’m going to have to explain to the chief why I’m calling one of our most high-profile clients by his first name,” she warned.

Oliver grinned. “Just send him my way. You know you’re Felicity’s favorite doctor,” he said. By extension, that made her one of Oliver’s favorites too. The older woman was kind, almost always smiling – but in a non-creepy way, according to Felicity – and she emanated a calming, comforting vibe.

“Fine, fine. Oliver. Are those for Ms. Smoak?” she asked, nodding to the coffees.

Oliver grinned. “One of them is. She’s very… particular about her coffee.”

Kala rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “Don’t I know it. Ms. Smoak is a darling, but she is _not_ quiet in her protestations over our lack of caffeinated accommodations,” she said, shooting a glance down the hall where Felicity’s room was.

“It’s a good thing you’re back. She always manages to get into some kind of mischief when you’re gone,” Kala said, making Oliver tilt his head. The woman just waved her hand. “Go talk to her yourself. Maybe _you_ can talk some sense into her. Remind her that healing takes _time_. Perhaps she listens when you speak.”

Oliver was worried now. Had something happened? He hadn’t even been gone an hour!

“Of course, Kala. Tell Ibrahim congratulations from me,” he said, already turning to leave.

“I will, but it will be the fifth time! He’s going to want to send you a fruit basket at this rate. I swear the boy is more nervous than I’ve ever seen anyone. It’s not like Misa is going to leave him at the altar! She’s so head over heels for him that if it was up to her, they’d have been married the day they got engaged. It took all of my prayers to Ganesha to get her to hold out this long!”

Oliver wanted to stay and laugh with Kala, but he needed to get back to Felicity. Just the few more moments it took to get back to her room made him feel like something was trying to claw its way up his throat.

“Felicity?” he called, almost breathless despite not having physically moved that far.

There she was, lying in her bed and smiling like he’d brought the sun with him instead of just coffee.

She raised her arms and made grabbing motions with her hands. “My hero,” she said when he put the coffee cup in her hands. She took a small sip and sighed.

Oliver was amazed by her. Somehow she looked like the picture of contentment sitting in a hospital room, surrounded by doctors and nurses and lights that never went out. That was on of Felicity’s superpowers, he guessed. She could make any place her home.

He just wanted to be wherever that was. A house in Ivy Town, their loft in Star City, or a beach house in Bali.

“Did anything happen while I was gone?” he asked, taking back his usual place in the chair beside her bed. It was shockingly comfortable, but that could’ve been because they were treating the CEO of Palmer Tech and basically housing her mayoral candidate fiancé.

Felicity’s face immediately had that weird, pinched expression that let him know the next thing she said would probably be a lie. Her face smoothed into a bright smile and she shrugged. “Of course not! I just… laid here. Doing… deep breathing. Waiting for you to come back,” she insisted before biting her lip.

“Felicity,” Oliver said, catching her gaze and holding it. “Wanna play a game?”

“What kind of game?” she asked with a little sparkle in her blue eyes but the tense set of her mouth told him she knew what was coming.

“The ‘Tell Me What You Did While I Was Gone That Made You Look So Guilty’ game.”

Felicity pursed her lips and shook her head the same way she had the last time they’d had a similar conversation and Oliver had to fight himself to keep from smiling. Even when she was frustrating, she was too damn cute.

“No…”

“Ms. Smoak!”

They both turned to look at the nurse – Jacob, twenty-seven, USC grad, had a pet iguana he brought to work that Felicity was in love with – and Oliver caught Felicity’s guilty, desperate look out of the corner of his eye. Jacob had several huge ice packs in his hands and Oliver turned back to Felicity, confused.

“Oh, Mr. Queen! I see you’ve returned. Ms. Smoak had a nasty fall while you were gone – ”

“ _What_?” Oliver snapped, trying not to sound angry but… he was. Kala’s comments made sense now. “Felicity, you know what Paul told you! You’ve got to take it easy and focus on _healing_ , not just – ”

“I _know_ ,” she said. Now that she wasn’t trying to deceive him, he could see the pain pinching her face and moved closer and took her hand without even thinking about it. She squeezed his hand tightly and turned her big, blue eyes on his. “I know I need to take it easy and I shouldn’t have done any more today since Paul already came by but… I dropped the remote and I just thought that I’d just get up and _get it_ like a regular person because that’s what this bio stimulant is supposed to _do_ and I must’ve bent over too fast because I got really lightheaded and fell over.”

It was a simple fall. Something that wouldn’t have garnered more than a kiss on her head and a helping hand before. But this was after. After the shooting, the paralysis, and the bio stimulant. At this stage in her recovery, any kind of fall could have dire consequences.

Oliver knew that everything was probably fine since no one was freaking out, but he needed the confirmation. He ran his thumb rhythmically and soothingly over her hand and turned to Jacob. “She’s alright?” he asked the bustling nurse, glancing at him but not letting go of Felicity’s hand.

“Oh, yes. The bio stimulant is doing even better than we projected! Ms. Smoak is just regaining strength and range of movement which is why we didn’t want you to engaged in any unsupervised physical activity,” he said with a pointed look at Felicity that barely dimmed his default cheerful expression. “Regardless, there is a silver lining! We know full feeling and functionality is returning at a much faster rate than originally calculated. I’m sure Paul and Mr. Holt will be overjoyed at the news.”

Jacob kept babbling as he gently adjusted Felicity with Oliver’s help and placed the ice packs along her lower back and hips. Felicity liked him because they could always find something to talk about that wasn’t just about hospitals and recovery, but Oliver was having a hard time seeing the merit of that trait when he really needed to have a talk with his fiancée.

Felicity must have seen the look on his face and was resigned to her fate. “Thank you, Jacob,” she said in that tone that was somehow dismissive yet kind and polite. Oliver had no idea how she managed it and was once again immensely thankful to Ray – words he never thought he’d even _think_ – for making her CEO of Palmer Tech. She obviously knew what she was doing.

“Hon – ”

“Can we just… skip this part?” she asked, turning her blue, blue eyes to him and pursing her lips in that pleading expression that he just… couldn’t resist.

He opened his mouth to speak again but Felicity beat him to it.

“I know I shouldn’t have been moving around unsupervised but I just… I _feel_ like I’m ready for so much more than anyone is letting me _do_ and that makes me feel cranky and weak and useless and I’m just _sitting here_ when I should be down at the lair tracking Darhk or H.I.V.E. or doing something useful and when the remote fell I just thought, come on, Smoak, you’ve taken a bullet and beat up Ghosts with a metal pole you can stand up and get this _fracking remote_ and – ”

Oliver leaned over and kissed her.

It was simple – just his lips pressing against hers – but it seemed to be exactly what she needed because she relaxed under his lips and sighed against his mouth. No matter how many times he kissed her, how chastely or passionately, it always hit him with the same intensity. _Damn, he loved her_.

“We can skip it – ” her expression soared and he rushed to finish his sentence. “Just let me say this.”

Her face fell. He took both her hands and waited patiently until she looked back up at him, biting her lip like she was expecting a lecture.

“I’m not the best person to say this to you, but just because I don’t follow good advice doesn’t mean I don’t know any. You went through a terrible trauma, Felicity. Not just what happened at Christmas, but now getting re-used to what used to be normal. Your body is doing things no other body has ever done before,” he said, letting his pride, love and adoration shine through for the remarkable woman in front of him. She glanced down, a faint blush on her cheeks, and he gently tugged on her hands so she’d look back at him.

“You’re out for now. Just like I was after Malcolm beat me my first year back. That’s why we’re a _team_. John, Laurel, Digg and I are all here to support you. Curtis is handling Palmer Tech. _You_ need to focus on getting better,” he said, squeezing her hands a little tighter. “We’re here for you until then. _I’m_ here for you. You’re not weak. You’re not useless. You’re _remarkable_ , Felicity. You’re just taking a little time to heal. No one – _no one_ – thinks less of you for that.”

Felicity’s bright blue eyes were misty behind her glasses but she was smiling, which automatically made Oliver smile back.

“You always say you don’t have a way with words.”

“You inspire me,” he said, smiling even bigger.

“Wanna get over here and let me inspire you a little more?”

Oliver fixed his fiancée with a look. She still weren’t cleared for any “strenuous physical activity” and she knew it.

“Oh, get your mind out of the gutter McSmutty and come kiss me!”

"I dunno, that can get pretty smutty..."

" _Oliver_ \- "

They both laughed and he immediately complied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Kala is totally borrowed from Sense8! She and Riley are my _favorite_ characters on that show. I mean, I love them all but they have a special place in my heart.


	10. Call Me Beep Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the original post on my [Tumblr](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/141984294169/yellowflicker09011996-honorthedeadbyfighting).
> 
> "You know that every time Felicity left the foundry in seasons 1-3, Oliver asked her to text him when she got home safely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Hijacking Tumblr posts! I'm always watching, guys. Prompt me or not. I'll find it. I really wanna write more Felicity and Roy being friends if anyone wants to prompt me with some of that fun stuff.

It was a peaceful evening when all was said and done. Sure, Felicity had to listen to a close call over the comms but in the end her boys were fine, the bad guys were in custody, and she made it home before two a.m. In celebration, she’d taken a long, luxurious bath – complete with those fancy bath salts that were really just scented salt crystals but she spent too much money on anyway – and even enjoyed a glass of wine while she soaked. She didn’t have to worry about work the next day – perks of getting fired from Kord after the kidnapping thing – so she poured herself another glass of wine and decided to paint her nails.

She perused her nail polish collection in her short, fluffy pink bathrobe with cartoon ducks. Her hair was still in its towel turban and the bathtub was still draining.

Just as she reached out for a bright turquoise, there was a frantic knocking at her door.

Almost on instinct, she grabbed her phone first which had been outside the bathroom to give her a few unplugged minutes. It wasn’t technically a weapon, but any tech was offensive in her hands. Plus, she had the Starling City vigilantes on speed dial.

As the pounding continued, several things happened at once.

She finally saw that her screen was lit up was texts. Lots of them. From Oliver, Roy and John.

Whoever was at the door called out her name in a very familiar voice.

And there was a noise from her bedroom window behind her.

She whirled around, knowing who she’d see but still gasping in shock.

“I know, I know, I know,” she said as fast as she could, clutching her phone and biting her lip.

Oliver was standing in her room where he’d climbed in from her bedroom window. He _always_ told her to check the window and make sure it didn’t stick and was actually locked, but it always fell off her priority list. Getting kidnapped, getting fired, job hunting, saving the city, making sure her nails were impeccably maintained… these things took time.

He stood there, taking her in with worried but clinical eyes, breathing just a little bit harder than usual which meant he’d probably been moving pretty quickly. “You never texted,” he said, meeting her eyes.

“I know, I’m sorry!” she said, moving through her apartment to the front door. He was silent, but she knew he was following just a few paces behind.

She opened the door and smiled a little sheepishly. “Hi, John. Come in,” she said, stepping aside to let the other man inside. Thankfully, they seemed to have sent Roy home since he wasn’t at her apartment too. Small blessings. She _was_ in her fluffy pink bathrobe and she didn’t need any more Barbie joke fodder.

John came in, his quick eyes checking over the apartment. Obviously she wasn’t in danger, but those kinds of things were so deeply ingrained in both her boys that she didn’t even react anymore.

Once she had gotten them both glasses of water – the hospitality was ingrained whether they wanted it or not – she turned back around and was met with a muscular wall of crossed arms and identical disapproving expressions.

“Did you guys go to school for that or something?” she said, bustling setting the cups down on her island in front of them and barreling on when neither of them reacted except to raise an eyebrow. The same one. At the same time. “Wow, you’re synchronized! You’re really a squad now. I can raise one eyebrow, too. Now we just have to see if Roy can do it and we can be like Taylor Swift and – ”

“Felicity,” Digg said, unable to hold back a smile. Even Oliver was smiling. A little, tiny smile.

“I know, I forgot to text you guys I was home. I’m sorry! It’s just, I haven’t been home before two a.m. in like… _weeks_ , so I got really excited and took a bubble bath and drank some wine and I guess I forgot. I left my phone in my room to unplug a little. I didn’t think you’d _come_ here and I’d… ya know, disturb your evening. Or early morning. Or whatever,” she said, biting her lip to force the words to stay inside.

“Felicity,” Digg said this time, but he was still smiling. “Did you or did you not come to Russia to help me break Lyla out of a gulag?”

“I did,” she sighed, falling into the familiar pattern of this conversation.

“An extra thirty minutes to make sure you’re alright is nothing. I’m happy to do it,” he said, moving around the island to give her a brief hug. “Lyla didn’t mind, either. She’ll be happy to know you’re alright.”

Digg left quietly and Felicity turned to look at Oliver.

The relief on his face was so stark that she almost staggered. “Oliver,” she said, moving around the island and laying a hand on his crossed arms. “I’m sorry I forgot to text.”

Normally, she’d be a bit huffy about him literally breaking into her apartment because she didn’t text him but things had been pretty stressful at their night job until just recently.

She felt him relax under her hand. “I know I overreacted,” he said, his voice low and his eyes on her hand. That was… kind of a massive step forward. Acknowledgement of incorrect behavior? _Verbal_ acknowledgement of said behavior? Communication of fault? Groundbreaking.

Oliver’s face was undeniably amused now. He wasn’t smiling – not with teeth, anyway – but his eyes were practically glowing with laughter.

Wow, he had beautiful eyes.

“I said all that out loud, didn’t I?” Felicity asked, tilting her head.

He nodded and Felicity sighed. “It’s nice to know some things never change.”

They were silent for a moment, just being in each other’s presence. Then, Oliver put his hand over hers and she looked up to meet his bright, intense eyes.

“It’s just that… after everything with Brother Blood I… It’s been hard,” he said, back to his usual, succinct self. He’d become more verbose since she first met him, but he wasn’t the same man he was five years ago and he never would be again.

“I know,” she said. She _did_ know. It had been hard for her, too. She’d been the one kidnapped, after all. It had only been a few weeks and she still had memories of being taken sometimes when she walked through her living room. Any stray sound in the night woke her up with one hand already on her phone to dial any one of her personal vigilantes and the other reaching for her pepper spray. She was getting better, though. They’d move past it.

“It’ll get better,” she said, squeezing his arm and gazing into his eyes.

They were standing closer than she thought. Her hand on his arm, his hand covering hers, staring into each other’s eyes, their bodies scant inches apart. She became very, _very_ aware that she was naked underneath her robe when heart unfurled across every inch of her skin, burning even hotter where their skin touched.

“It will,” he said, his voice low and… a little breathless. They were standing so close she could feel his words on her skin.

For one brief moment, Felicity was aware of everything. The heat of his hand, the tension in his body _so_ close to hers, his burning clue eyes, and the way his breathing still seemed a little bit fast even though he’d hardly moved in the past few minutes.

She bit her lip, anticipating something she didn’t feel brave enough to name and… he stepped back.

Even though she was expecting it, she felt her heart fall a little as she let his arm go and shifted her weight to put a little more space between them. If that’s what Oliver wanted, she’d give it to him. He knew how she felt and he hadn’t _denied_ what she said on the beach of Lian Yu. She couldn’t _force_ him to be in a relationship with her. The ball was in his court and he still seemed like he was deciding whether or not he wanted to play.

Not that it was a game. Oliver was universes away from the young boy who carelessly played games with the girls in his life. Despite the persona he wanted everyone to believe when he came back, Felicity saw him. The real him. The kind, thoughtful, taciturn, occasionally prickly vigilante who ran all the way to her townhouse when she didn’t let him know she got home safe. No matter how he’d acted before, Felicity knew Oliver wouldn’t break her heart on purpose.

Well, she hoped he wouldn’t.

“I guess I should go,” he said. His voice was still quiet and he was still looking at her – _very_ intensely – but it seemed a little stronger than it was a few moments before.

Felicity tilted her head and bit her lip, thinking for a moment. His eyes zeroed in on her mouth for one brief, searing moment before he quickly looked back into her eyes.

“You know you’re more than welcome to my guest room. Open invitation,” she said without really thinking about it. Sure, they’d just had a pretty intense… _something_ , but they were friends first. She had a guest room and it wasn’t healthy to sleep in a basement every night. Plus, she knew he’d be up for several more hours to work through his residual anxiety that’d probably built up during however long it took him to reach her townhouse after he realized she wasn’t going to answer her phone. If he was here with the reassurance that she was fine, he might get a little more sleep.

“I couldn’t,” he protested immediately, but his tone was still soft. He always turned her down except for a few rare nights where his injuries were so severe that he needed someone to watch out for him. Felicity had used her Loud Voice and insisted he stay in her guest room.

Felicity knew when to make a tactical retreat – something she’d actually learned from Oliver. “If you’re sure. Just know you’re always welcome here. Anytime. Like I said: open invitation,” she said, trying to reassure herself that she was only talking about her guest room and not any kind of _anything_ between them. She’d made her intentions clear.

He nodded once, his eyes making it clear that he understood what she wasn’t even sure she wasn’t saying.

“I know,” he said, quiet again. They were gazing. _Again_. Frack, he had beautiful eyes. Beautiful _everything_.

“Well, I’m going to… do my thing,” she said, her eyes widening once her words actually registered with her brain. “And by that I mean paint my nails and drink wine. No other thing. Like… Not that I… It’s healthy, but…”

By now, Oliver was genuinely smiling. A big, full smile that made his eyes sparkle like fracking Christmas lights. She didn’t even celebrate Christmas! Hanukkah candles? The expression didn’t quite work the same way.

“You know what,” she said, crossing her arms but smiling back at him. A smile on Oliver’s face was infectious. “I’m going to _do my thing_. Full stop. What’s my thing? You’ll never know. It’s a great feminine mystery. I mean, unless you stay. Not that I’m trying to entice you to stay or anything! It’ll just be me, my nail polish collection, some red wine, and Netflix. That’s it.”

Oliver put his hand on her shoulder. She could feel the burning heat of his skin even through the thick terrycloth.

“I’m going to go,” he said, his tone and statement firm but a smile in his eyes. “Goodnight, Felicity. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He walked to the door.

“Goodnight,” she said back, refusing to believe she actually sounded as breathless as she felt.

Once he left – with one final, little smile in her direction – she sagged against the counter and sighed.

Being alone with Oliver Queen made her heart beat faster than the five sit-ups she did every morning.

Did that mean she could stop working out…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? I really enjoy S 2.5. So much sexual tension. The best season of TV that wasn't on TV. 
> 
> Drop me a comment and kudo if you enjoyed this! I certainly enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Head over to my Tumblr (same name) and prompt me!


	11. Daddy Dearest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What I hope happens in the end of S4 in relation to Malcolm Merlyn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was inspired to write this by @honorthedeadbyfighting after we had a conversation on Tumblr about how insane it is that Malcolm Merlyn is still alive. So, I fixed that little problem.
> 
> You can read the original Tumblr post [here.](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/142710268752/daddy-dearest)

It’s come down to this moment.

Battle rages on the rain-soaked rooftop, but all Felicity can see from her place on the periphery is Thea engaging Malcolm Merlyn in battle.

 _I’m ready, Felicity. Something feels different this time._ I _feel different this time._

Sometimes she felt like her codename was more Moral Compass than Overwatch, but if Thea expected to hear any arguments against patricide from Felicity, she wasn’t going to get any.

Instead, she briefly hugged the younger woman and gave her a comm link.

Sure, Felicity didn’t technically _have_ to be there. But something changed the night Laurel died. The moment the doctor pronounced _time of death, eleven fifty-nine_ , Felicity felt like she was being crushed. A boulder took up residence on her chest and wouldn’t move. Tears poured down her face and the faces of her friends, filling the hospital room with the sounds of grief.

After that, though, when she’d had some time… she got _angry_.

And Darhk may have pulled the trigger – or in this case, stabbed the arrow – but Felicity knew who was really behind all of this.

 _Malcolm Merlyn_.

She needed to see him suffer as immeasurably as possible. Something wild and snarling in her heart _demanded_ it.

_“It’s not fair to keep asking Oliver to kill for us,” Felicity had said one night after too much wine. She’d been with Thea, the girl having unofficial moved in with her after Laurel’s death. Neither of them were ready to face Oliver or the loft – for different reasons – but there was no way Thea could go back to Laurel’s apartment without her._

_“If it comes down to it, I’ll pull the fucking trigger myself,” she growled, ignoring the shocked look Thea sent her way. Felicity didn’t know if it was shock at her casually admitting to a willingness for murder or her cursing._

_Thea shook her head, her pretty eyes solemn. “I know I’ve said this – or some variation of this – a lot, but… he’s my responsibility. I have to put him down. For Tommy, for Ollie, for Sara, for Laurel… and for me,” she said, looking up at Felicity like she was daring her to say something._

_Felicity just raised her glass. “Kill that son of a bitch.”_

“You can’t kill me, Thea!” Merlyn taunted as father and daughter circled each other amidst the chaos. “You’ve had countless opportunities and you’ve never been able to do it!”

Normally, Thea would’ve reacted in rage. Felicity wasn’t so blind to her teammate’s faults that she didn’t see Thea’s first instinct was wrath. This time, though, Thea was calm, composed, and _sure_.

She didn’t say anything. She kept circling and then – fast as lightning – she struck.

Watching them fight was truly a sight to behold. Oliver was all raw physicality and efficiency – taking his opponent down as brutally and quickly as possible. Thea had been taught by Malcolm Merlyn, who had been taught by the League of Assassins. There was a grace to their movements – though they were no less efficient – that Felicity saw echoed in Sara and Nyssa. Even when he’d pretended to fight for the League, Oliver hadn’t been able to adopt that fluid beauty.

The duo traded blows and Felicity couldn’t take her eyes off them. Good thing Lyla was there to have her back, or a few Ghosts and assassins might have gotten in some lucky blows to the resident IT genius.

They fought, and fought, and fought. Felicity thought it lasted hours, but a quick glance at her watch assured her it hadn’t even been five minutes. Fights – whether heard over comms or actually in front of her face – always felt like they took ages.

Then, it happened. Malcolm slipped.

It was barely even anything. Felicity wouldn’t have noticed if Thea hadn’t taken advantage of the movement. But the roof was wet, covered in gravel, and Malcolm’s League shoes didn’t have the best traction. Not to mention, he was much older than Thea. He may have been League-trained, had access to the Lazarus Pit, and was in exceptionally good health in general, but in that one moment he was just a second too slow.

Thea didn’t hesitate.

She spun, her double swords flashing in a complicated move Felicity could only marvel at with no hope of understanding, and had Malcolm Merlyn on the ground.

Swords crossed over his neck and Thea had one foot planted firmly on Merlyn’s chest. Felicity could tell she was leaning almost all her weight on him.

“Thea, I’m your father – ”

“You’re _not_ my father,” she insisted, her voice clear and powerful. The fighting had stopped when Merlyn hit the ground, and all everyone could do was wait.

Felicity saw Oliver staring in anguish at his baby sister, but he didn’t understand. It was slightly surprising that there was something about death that Felicity and Thea understood but Oliver didn’t, but she supposed it made sense. To Oliver, killing was a black and red stain that covered his hands and soul, tainting anyone who stood too close.

Despite their lack of practical experience – at least in Felicity’s life – she and Thea understood.

Death wasn’t just survival, remorse and guilt. Sometimes there was a time to kill and when that time came, death would cleanse.

Malcolm Merlyn had trained Thea to fight, but he’d abused her, brainwashed her, forced her to kill a friend, killed her half-brother, levelled half a city, kidnapped her nephew, aided and abetted more criminals than any of them knew, and probably done a million other horrible things they couldn’t even begin to guess. Some of those things were in the name of protecting her, but Thea knew the truth. Malcolm looked after himself first. Everyone else was secondary – even her.

He was a threat to all of them, but he’d destroyed Thea. She’d barely been able to put herself back together, and in her reconstruction she found truth: Malcolm Merlyn was a threat to her life and the lives of everyone she cared about, and would be for as long as he drew breath.

“You may have been the sperm donor, but you were _never_ my father. Fathers are kind, fathers protect you, fathers _raise_ you. I was raised by my mother and father – Robert and Moira Queen. I was protected by my brothers and my friends. All you’ve ever done is hurt and taint and destroy _everything_. You killed Tommy and brainwashed me, made me kill too. You taught me to fight, but I’m not strong because of you. I’m strong because of _my family_ and _me_ and I’m here to avenge the ones we lost because of _you_. You’ll never hurt us again,” she said, and Felicity was in awe.

She could see Thea from her vantage point, leaning over Merlyn like an avenging angel with twice the fire. Her green eyes _burned_ with righteous rage, and without another word she moved her arms and relieved Merlyn of his head.

Silence reigned. Felicity couldn’t see anyone but Oliver and Thea, and Oliver looked absolutely gutted. Felicity felt… _relieved_.

Malcolm Merlyn was dead.

He was finally out of their lives forever.

More threats lurked: Darhk was still around, as was H.I.V.E., and her dad was poking his nose into her life again, but in that one moment – soaked on a wet rooftop, surrounded by enemies – Felicity felt free.

Thea was standing over Merlyn’s decapitated body, staring at his slack, lifeless face. Felicity could see every emotion flitting through her eyes: shocked sadness, surprise, vindication, rage… and peace.

It was finally over.

In that moment, with rain pouring across her body and washing the blood off her weapons, Thea Queen was finally free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys! Over 200 followers on Tumblr??? You're amazing! I LOVE hearing from you guys over there, so after you drop a comment and kudo, head on over and chat! Feel free to prompt me.


	12. Love Through a Lens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I totally stole a prompt off Tumblr based on Emily Bett Rickards' new Maneaddicts photo shoot! @yet-i-remain-quiet on Tumblr said: "Second, I AM IN MIGHTY NEED OF A OLICITY AU WHERE FELICITY IS A MODEL AND OLIVER IS THE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO’S IN LOVE WITH HER"
> 
> Well, I decided to make that happen. Read the original Tumblr post [here.](https://imusuallyobsessed.tumblr.com/post/143695898585/yet-i-remain-quiet-emily-bett-rickards-bts)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! So many people have followed me on Tumblr lately! I love seeing all of you showing me love over there. It makes my day! Head on over and prompt me if you want, I always love to hear from you!
> 
> Also, I've been getting a lot of people saying I should continue this... Anyone else think so, too?

Felicity walked into the studio, a smile already on her face. As soon as the Maneaddicts people told her who the photographer would be for the shoot, she hadn’t been able to drop the expression.

Tommy, her agent, have her shit for it.

She reassured him—for like the millionth time—that she did _not_ have a crush on his best friend.

“Felicity!” a new voice exclaimed, making her smile even bigger.

“Oliver!” she said, barely able to get her arms open before a pair of strong arms wrapped her into a warm, solid hug that felt like she was _surrounded by muscular, gorgeous muscles oh frack_ —

“I missed you,” he said, stepping back after a moment but keeping a hold on her arms. His bright blue eyes scanned her from head to toe, going back to her hair when he was done. He lifted a hand to her head and picked up a tendril. “You dyed it.”

Felicity bit her lip and grabbed at the pink strands. “Yeah, they wanted it this way for the shoot. I wanted to surprise you,” she said, feeling a little bashful.

When they met, she was sixteen and fresh out of high school. At a mall in Vegas, she’d been stopped by the famous, young, hip designer Sara Lance. The woman had started talking about Felicity’s “presence” and “aura” and how she just _had_ to have her walk in her show for New York Fashion Week. The final dress had just been _made_ for her, Sara declared.

Felicity was mostly dazzled by the fashionable young designer, but her mother had positively shrieked and said of _course_ Felicity would walk, it was before classes at MIT started and they’d always wanted to go to the city, hadn’t they?

It wasn’t until later that Felicity realized how weird it was. Well, even weirder than a fashion designer walking up to her in a mall and insisting her walk in New York Fashion Week.

Felicity Smoak wasn’t even five and a half feet tall—well below the height of runway models. She was healthy and had a slim figure, but she wasn’t willowy and svelte like the women who graced fashion spreads. She also had no modeling experience and while she wasn’t awkward, she didn’t have an innate grace.

Sara had wanted her to take some pictures in the clothes before her runway show.

 _That_ was the moment that truly changed Felicity Smoak’s life.

That was the day she met Oliver Queen.

He was Sara’s childhood friend—there was a sordid tale of cheating and sisters and best friends that she didn’t learn until later—and wanted to become a photographer. He was suffocating under his family’s legacy and had always felt more at home behind the camera than in front of it, despite his sordid history with the paparazzi.

Sara was giving Oliver a chance just like Felicity. She believed in his vision.

Felicity always believed that there had been more to the reason Sara put her and Oliver together. This was a high stakes shoot—Sara’s first line at NYFW, being looked at by huge designers—and she was letting a nobody model her clothes and another nobody (at least in the fashion world) take pictures of them. Sara never admitted it, but Felicity thought that the designer knew what would happen.

The shoot was electric. Every single shot was perfect, and Oliver admitted later to having everything he needed within the first ten shots but using up more film because he’d wanted to spend more time with her. Felicity knew exactly what angles Oliver wanted, and he knew exactly how to capture Felicity’s personality on camera.

They’d talked throughout the entire shoot and even gone out for coffee after, quickly losing track of the hours. They’d been best friends ever since.

He’d been there for her through her newfound fame, she’d been there for him through becoming an established photographer and becoming more than his parent’s legacy.

He made her feel safe and comfortable in the new, bright, shiny world she’d unknowingly walked into when she accepted Sara’s offer. He was the only photographer she could really, _truly_ be herself for. Part of it was because they were friends, but another part was just Oliver’s personality. He had a way about him that brought out the best in the people he worked with. That was why he was such a popular photographer.

There was also the small fact that she’d been crushing on him basically since they met.

“I love it,” he said, following her over to the hair and makeup table.

Felicity grinned, settling into her chair. “Maybe you’d have seen it sooner if you weren’t jet-setting all across the world. Didn’t your flight just land from Paris a couple hours ago? I still don’t understand why Isabel just _had_ to meet you in Paris and couldn’t just—”

“It’s because she’s a heinous bitch and wants to get in Ollie’s pants,” a bright, cheerful voice announced.

Felicity turned in her chair with a huge smile, throwing her arms around Thea Queen, Oliver’s little sister. “Hey, Thea!” she said, squeezing the girl tight before releasing her. “I can’t believe that _every_ female model wants to get in Oliver’s pants, though.”

“They don’t,” Thea said, moving behind Felicity and putting her hands on her shoulders. Both women ignored Oliver, who was suddenly blushing and shifting on his feet. “ _Every_ model wants to get in his pants. Not just the female ones. Well, _almost_ every model.”

“ _Thea_ ,” Oliver said sharply, making his little sister roll her eyes.

Felicity looked between the siblings with confusion, not following their exchange.

“ _Whatever_. Anyway, I was thinking we could…”

Felicity got lost in the haze of makeup and hair, laughing with Thea over things that had happened since they last saw each other. Thea traveled much less than her brother or Felicity, but she was becoming a very in-demand image creator.

Once they got the hair done—starting with a pink, curly bob—the makeup—a neutral face with a pop of silver eyeshadow—and the outfit—black leather with a statement necklace—she was ready to go.

Felicity stepped into the white space, rolling her head. The first time she’d done this, the big, open white space, light boxes, and fans had been intimidating. Now, it just felt like home.

“Ready?” Felicity asked, grinning when she turned to look at Oliver doing his final setup behind the camera. There was a stand, but it was just a formality. Within minutes, he’d have the camera in his hand to move around and get the exact shots he wanted.

Felicity always thought he looked his most handsome right there: in the brief moments before a shoot started, when the air hummed with possibilities and his eyes looked _so_ blue that she was afraid she might drown in them.

She really needed to her over her crush. And that was all it was, a crush. Obviously, he didn’t feel the same way. They were friends and he consistently topped People’s Hottest 30 Under 30 list. He saw her as a good friend, maybe even a sister like Thea. She needed to stop wanting to jump him so much.

He looked up at her with warmth, excitement, and something else in his eyes that Felicity couldn’t quite identify and said, “Ready when you are.”

 

* * *

 

Oliver Queen was in love with Felicity Smoak. In love with taking pictures of her—fuck, was there even a point of equivocating in his head? As long as he hadn’t come down with Felicity’s lack of filter, she’d never know.

From their first photoshoot five years before, he knew there was something about her. At the time, he chalked it up to her almost painfully bright personality and natural chemistry with the camera. She was sixteen, an early high-school graduate, and another person who’d been swept into the fashion world by Hurricane Sara. He was twenty-one and barely knew what he was doing himself. Sure, he’d been taking pictures his whole life—even won a few photography competitions—but being a professional fashion photographer was another story.

Felicity made it easy. She was joyful, funny, adorable, and had a way of letting the camera in to bask in some of her light.

Or maybe that was just how Oliver felt. Like she was drawing him in through the lens.

Whenever she turned her baby blue eyes to the camera, he was a little more lost. She had a way of looking at the camera like it was another person. She would tell it secrets, laugh with it, and connect with it on a level Oliver hadn’t seen in any other model, no matter how long they’d been working.

They’d been instant friends and he worked with her every chance he could. As they grew to prominence, it became easier. Who wouldn’t want a world-renowned photographer working on their campaign with the famous model Felicity Smoak?

By now, they were a duo. Rumors had been circulating for years that they were in a relationship, but they just laughed them off. At first, it was because she was too young. She hadn’t even been legal, and he wasn’t going to touch that situation with a ten-foot pole.

Then, their careers had taken off. It wouldn’t have been fair to start something when she was climbing so high. Sure, he was climbing too, but he didn’t want to add any more fuel to the rumors that she only became famous because of her work with him _behind_ the camera.

Not many people said that anymore, but still. Felicity Smoak was an amazing woman, and she’d earned every single thing she’d ever gotten and more.

Oliver didn’t want to tarnish her reputation with his own. He hadn’t been a partying playboy for years now, but the tabloids seemed to be waiting for the moment he slipped up. He refused for that slip up to be Felicity.

She was so much more than that. She was _worth_ so much more than that. She deserved _everything_.

Thea, Tommy, Roy, Digg, Sara, and basically all their friends thought he was an idiot for sitting around doing nothing. _If you love her_ , they said, _tell her_.

But how could he tell her? He had no idea if she felt the same way, and while the Ollie of old wouldn’t have cared, Oliver Queen _definitely_ cared what Felicity Smoak thought of him.

Sometimes he thought he might be too invested in her—he knew she had the power to break or build him up, even if she didn’t. Then he realized, any possible pain he might face at her hands was worth it.

Christ, Tommy would choke if he could hear Oliver’s thoughts right now.

He was a sap. He knew it. He was a sap for Felicity.

As per their tradition, he picked the music that pounded through the speakers and set the tone for the shoot. It was originally a way for them to connect—for Felicity to _feel_ , not just hear, Oliver’s vision for the shoot. It became a way for him to make her smile and show her the new music he’d found in his travels, though he often stated she knew much more about that stuff than he did.

They went through four looks, but the last was his favorite. She was sitting, in a strappy black crop top and a red skirt, with her pink hair blown out in a way that looked like it did naturally. Except the pink part, of course.

She sat on the ground, looking down before cutting her soft blue eyes to the camera, mouth slightly open, and it took all of Oliver’s concentration to stay in the moment and not imagine if—with all the makeup scrubbed off so he could see her freckles and that outfit on his floor—this is what she’d look like in the morning, crowned in hazy sunlight and stretching out beside him.

 _Get yourself under control, Queen,_ he chastised himself. Thinking those thoughts led down a slippery slope, and Oliver refused to get into that kind of situation on a job. Especially a job with Felicity.

She was beautiful and had men fawning over her all the time. Oliver would know—they went out together a lot, especially after she turned twenty-one. He’d also coordinated with Tommy and recommended the Diggles for security when a few of her fans started getting a little…intense.

There was one guy—some lacrosse player—who was really starting to worry them.

Oliver threw all those thoughts out of his head and focused on the last few shots. As always, Felicity was magic on camera until the last shot.

Still, Oliver couldn’t help but love it even more when the shoot was over, she was back in her normal clothes, and brushing out her pink hair. She was babbling about some new tech invention she’d helped write code for, and even though it all went over Oliver’s head, he still hung on her every word.

“…and then I—Oliver, are you even listening?” she asked, turning to look at him with an attempted glare that he really couldn’t classify as anything other than a smothered smile.

“You ran into a problem with the cobalt-level encryption Ray wanted, but then you talked with Curtis and realized you could bypass the bugs with a beta code and a hardware enhancer,” he rattled off obediently, smiling a little at her surprised expression. “I always listen to you, Felicity.”

Her expression softened and Oliver really hoped she didn’t notice how he couldn’t help but caress her name as it came out of his mouth.

Just then, the door to the studio opened and the familiar sound of paws had Felicity shouting, “Ophie!”

Felicity was out of her chair and crouched in front of her dog in moments, running her hands over the whippet’s fur and saying, “Momma missed you! Did you miss me? Of course, you did…”

“Sure, just ignore me. It’s fine, I can take it,” said the man at the end of Ophelia’s leash: Felicity’s agent and Oliver’s best friend since birth: Tommy Merlyn.

“Hey, buddy,” Tommy said, dropping the leash to embrace Oliver for a moment before he stepped back. “How did it go?”

“Perfectly, as always,” Oliver said.

“I don’t know,” Felicity interjected, still petting Ophie but looking up at the two men. “I’m still a little unsure about those expressions during the one with the hair around my neck. You said they were perfect, but you say that about everything.”

“They were, Felicity. I promise,” Oliver reassured her, unable to keep a smile off his face.

Tommy rolled his eyes. The fact that Felicity hadn’t realized Oliver was in love with her constantly astounded her agent. Felicity was a genius, for Christ’s sake!

“If you say so,” she said in a tone that implied quite the opposite, but she was willing to let it go.

Thea finally came out of the back after packing everything up—her supplies were in two rolling cases, one in each hand.

“Food?” she asked, her green eyes wide and pleading as she looked at the group. “Craft services was awesome but Big Belly in NYC has the Manhattan Burger and I’ve been dreaming about it since the last time we ate there.”

“Second fiddle to a dog _and_ a burger. I’m beginning to think you guys don’t want me around,” Tommy said, pouting for a moment before he pulled Thea in for a hug.

“You’ve discovered our evil plot to get rid of you. Darn it!” Felicity said, grabbing Ophie’s leash and getting to her feet.

Everyone laughed and got ready to leave. Oliver handed Felicity her purse from where he’d retrieved it by the makeup chair. They walked out behind Tommy and Thea, leaving security and the cleaning crew to lock up.

If his hand hovered a little too close to her back as they walked out and down the stairs, well, she didn’t notice and he wasn’t going to say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What did you think? I might continue this! I'm just not entirely sure where I'd take it... I haven't thought much about it outside the realm of this oneshot. Meaning, I have no idea what the drama would be!
> 
> UPDATE: I continued it! Find the multi-chapter fic "Love Through a Lens" [here!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6819289/chapters/15566179)


	13. Twenty-Nine Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexi (alexiablackbriar13 on Tumblr) prompted me with this: "Oh my god. Out of all the people I expected to turn up to try and crash Oliver's birthday party, you were not on the list."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS FLUFF.
> 
> Tooth-rotting fluff. Everyone is alive, nothing is wrong, and everything is just working out for the best. I just wanted something happy. Enjoy!
> 
> You can prompt me at my Tumblr (same name as here).

"Oh my god. Out of all the people I expected to turn up to try and crash Oliver's birthday party, you were not on the list."

Felicity looked up at Thea from where she was trying to put on her brand new, insanely high heels while leaning on a very structurally unsound shelf in the back of Verdant. Tommy had tricked Oliver into coming in on his birthday by lying about a shipment gone wrong, then surprised him with a gorgeous table set up in the middle of the club with all his friends. After the island, Oliver didn’t like big parties.

Felicity originally wasn’t going to be able to make it. She had an extremely important emergency meeting with Walter and had been called into QC. Thankfully, she’d managed to fix the problem faster than anticipated and her precipitous idea to pack her party clothes in her car came in handy.

“It’s not sneaking if I was invited,” Felicity said with a smile, finally getting the buckle done and standing on both her feet.

“How do I look?” she asked and spun around for her boyfriend’s little sister.

She had gotten her hair halfway done when Walter called, and somehow in its collapse it looked good. She managed to throw on her makeup quickly in the QC bathroom. Her black dress was short with lots of strategic cutouts, and more skin was showing on her back than dress. Her shoes were black and gold and brand new and her lips were bright red.

Thea nodded and grinned. “Oliver won’t know what hit him. Then again, he’s so obsessed with you that you could show up in a garbage bag and he’d still have heart eyes,” she admitted, her green eyes twinkling with mischief and happiness. Thea had confessed to Felicity a few months after Felicity started dating Oliver that she couldn’t wait for them to get married because she made Oliver the best version of himself.

Felicity wrinkled her nose. “Good obsessed? Because bad obsessed is bad. Like that lacrosse player my freshman year at MIT. He was bad obsessed. One time he – ”

“Good obsessed,” Thea said, rushing to cut Felicity off before she got into a really good ramble. As much as Thea loved that facet of her future sister-in-law’s personality (even though Oliver was still totally ridiculous and hadn’t admitted marriage was in the cards for him and Felicity) they really didn’t have time for it. “Though I don’t think you’ve told me about that lacrosse player.”

Felicity shook her head. “There’s nothing to tell. It’s all in the past. Speedy doesn’t need to make a visit,” she said with a wink.

Thea smirked. “We’ll see. For now, it’s time to go dazzle my brother. Just try to keep the PDA to a minimum, okay?” she asked, turning around to announce Felicity’s grand entrance.

Felicity scoffed. “Need I remind you of the time I caught you and Roy _naked_ on the training mats?” she said, sticking her tongue out at Thea when the younger woman turned to glare at her.

“No, I remember that. Vividly. And continue to appreciate you _never_ telling Oliver or Tommy.”

“I’ll never be more thankful Oliver offered to turn around to get my phone when I forgot it at home.”

Thea shook off the reminder of her and Roy’s sexcapades and left the store room, making sure Felicity stayed out of sight.

Tommy really had outdone himself. He was a natural party planner, and lately he’d turned his skills to planning more sedate events than the _Project X_ -style keggers he threw in high school and college. The table was long and wonderfully appointed. There was a white tablecloth, grey and green table settings, and even “manly centerpieces” (Tommy’s words) of twigs that Thea had talked him into. The light was low but bright enough to see the food and the state-of-the-art sound system was pumping soft but trendy music into the space.

Everyone was sitting at the table with whatever alcohol they preferred, though Oliver had water as usual.

“Guys, I found someone trying to sneak in through the store room door,” Thea announced, unable to keep a sly smile off her face.

Everyone looked tense for a few moments until their faces transformed into disbelief and happiness.

Felicity walked out from behind the wall when Thea made her announcement, grinning the whole way. Everyone initially looked tense – which Felicity really should’ve anticipated when Thea announced an ‘uninvited guest’ to a group of vigilantes – but when she came into view they all smiled.

But Felicity only had eyes for Oliver.

He was staring at her like she was the sun. It was a mix of joy, awe, and love. Never in her life did she think she’d get used to being looked at like that, and _frack_ she hoped she never would.

Oliver was standing before she got too close and Felicity walked into his arms.

“I missed you,” he said on his way down to kiss her, which she responded to with equal sensual enthusiasm.

Felicity smiled against his lips and murmured, “Happy birthday, Oliver.”

“It is now.”

Thea clapped her hands to break the moment, but Felicity still stayed in Oliver’s arms as she turned to look at her boyfriend’s little sister.

“Alright, let’s put the tongues away and get back to dinner,” she said, moving back to her seat between Roy and Tommy.

Oliver pulled out Felicity’s chair and she sat down. “But how can I eat _and_ put my tongue away? Aren’t tongues an inherent part of eating?” she asked, tilting her head and meeting Thea’s eyes, her own twinkling with mischief.

Thea rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Stop being gross,” she said, putting her napkin back in her lap.

Felicity meaningfully met Thea’s eyes, reminding the younger woman of the training mat incident, before turning her attention to the food.

They’d catered since the only one of them who had any considerable cooking skill was the one they were celebrating. There was Italian, Indian, Big Belly, Chinese, and a few other familiar types of food on the table. Felicity grabbed a Big Belly Buster, some penne alla vodka, orange chicken, and curry before tucking in. If anyone was stupid enough to mention how much she was eating, she would quickly inform them that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Being groomed to take over QC was like two full-time jobs, on top of her own individual projects and helping Team Arrow.

The evening passed happily. Everyone laughed, even the usually stoic Nyssa, and they managed to avoid any and all dark subjects, even the ever-impending villains of the week.

Felicity leaned closer to Oliver, squeezing his hand she was holding on her exposed thigh. “Happy?” she asked, letting her breath fan over his ear and neck and reveling in the goosebumps that appeared on his neck.

He turned to her, centimeters between their lips, and smiled. His eyes were hazy with happiness, and if he hadn’t been drinking water all night, Felicity’s would’ve thought he was buzzed. It curled her toes to know he was just that happy.

“I’m happy,” he said, smiling even bigger.

They moved even closer together and kissed, light and chaste because they couldn’t stop smiling, surrounded by those they loved the most.


	14. Everybody's Watching Her (But She's Looking At You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: song fic based off of Calvin Harris & Rhianna's 'this is what you came for'. Felicity is famous ish in some way. (Maybe a singer) and Oliver goes to see her in a fanboy type setting and she sees him and from then on her sights are set on him. Please and thanks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was prompted by colouredribbons on Tumblr and this is what I came up with! Not exactly like the song, but a bit more like your actual prompt. I fudged it a little, but I hope you enjoy it!

Felicity walked off stage, grinning from ear to ear and riding the adrenaline rush. The night was crisp, keeping her sweaty skin at a reasonable temperature while she performed to a sold-out crowd at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

It wasn’t the biggest venue she’d ever performed at, but it held a special place in her heart. Ever since she was a kid, she’d dreamed of going to see her favorite bands perform among the vaulting rocks and twinkling stars, filling her lungs with fresh air and her ears with amazing music. Now, she got to be the one on stage.

“Great job, Felicity!” her manager, Thea Queen, said as soon as she was out of the wings. “Grab some water and take a breather before your encore.”

Encores were basically part and parcel of touring these days, but Felicity always got a thrill when she heard the audience chanting it almost immediately after their cheers from her last song stopped.

“Does Cisco have the confetti ready?” Felicity asked, grabbing a bottle of water and sipping it slowly.

Thea grinned, her green eyes twinkling. “Yep. He said, and I quote, ‘accidentally replace the confetti with sparklers _one time_ and suddenly you’re a fire hazard.’”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Madison Square Garden was _not_ impressed – ”

“ – and we’re lucky they even agreed to let us perform there on this tour, I know. I gave all the tech boys the speech. If they don’t want to incur my wrath, they’ll do the show _exactly_ as planned.”

Felicity nodded, satisfied. There were very few people in the world brave enough to incur Thea Queen’s wrath.

Suddenly, Felicity became aware of a silent presence at her side and turned to face John Diggle, her head of security.

“Felicity, there’s someone here to see you,” he said, his tone the same no-nonsense she was used to when they were on a job, but there was a strange twinkle in his eyes.

She furrowed her brows. “Who? Everyone important is here or said they couldn’t come. My mom is coming when we’re in Vegas, Sara and Nyssa are coming when they get back from overseas… Are you sure this isn’t like that thing with the lacrosse guy?” she asked as Digg gently took her elbow and led her from backstage toward the myriad of rooms that housed hospitality, equipment, green rooms and the small army of people required to make her show happen.

Digg paused, his brow furrowed, and turned to her. “Felicity. You know I would never let anything like that happen again,” he said, almost scolding, like Felicity was his little sister instead of his boss.

But she could tell she’d actually hurt his feelings with her comment and shook her head. “Of course I know that, Digg. I shouldn’t have even mentioned it,” she said, following along when he started walking again. “So, who is it? I already met the Make-A-Wish kid and hung out with her all pre-show and she should still be in her front row seats but – ”

Felicity trailed off, unable to believe her eyes.

Standing in the hallway outside her green room, looking for all the world like he’d been there the whole time, was the one man she never in a million years thought she’d see tonight.

“Oliver!” she exclaimed, running and crashing into his arms and full speed.

He didn’t mind, of course, immediately wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She could tell without looking that he was smiling. Then, she was kissing him. All over his face and neck and every part she could reach.

“What are you doing here?” she asked between kisses. “You told me you had an important phone meeting with the Tokyo office.”

Oliver was laughing and finally gained enough control to bend down and meld his lips with hers, stealing her breath and her words for a few toe-curling moments before he moved back.

“It’s your big night, hon. I wasn’t gonna miss it for anything. I explained everything to Walter and he agreed that this was more important. He said he could handle Tokyo without me and I got here as soon as I could. Came straight from the airport and saw the last half of your show,” he explained with his heart in his eyes.

Starting a relationship with Oliver Queen was simultaneously unexpected and inevitable. They met at an industry party when he’d come as Thea’s date. Felicity was the first professional to take a chance on Thea after she got out of rehab – hiring the younger woman on as her personal and tour manager – so she was laying off boys while she readjusted to life as usual. Then she’d started dating Roy, but that was a different story.

Sparks flew instantly. All throughout the night they kept coming back to each other, sometimes accidentally but usually on purpose. After long glances and lingering touches, they’d exchanged numbers and gone home. The next morning, he’d called and asked her on a date. Dinner that night, eight o’clock. They’d gone to a hole-in-the-wall Thai place and Felicity had the most fun on a first date she’d ever had in her life. After that night, they went forward together and never looked back.

A VP of a multibillion dollar conglomerate and an alt pop princess might not seem like the perfect match, but they made it work. He worked at the QC offices in LA and when she wasn’t on tour, she lived with him in a gorgeous apartment made all the more gorgeous by the fact that they were there together.

“Thank you,” she said, leaning up and kissing him again. It lingered a little longer this time. Most performers dreamed of Madison Square Garden, and while that venue had been a major milestone, Red Rocks was where she really wanted to perform. Oliver had known that and done everything in his power to be here.

“Sorry you two. Felicity, it’s time for your encore,” Digg said. Felicity blushed and tried to step back, realizing her bodyguard had witnessed that whole display, but Oliver didn’t let her leave the circle of his arms until they shared one more, positively bone-melting kiss.

“I love you, Felicity,” he said, his tone serious but proud. “Knock ‘em dead.”

“Well, not literally. That would be awful! I don’t want to kill me fans. Who thought of that phrase, anyway? Did someone really resent their fame? I can’t imagine any other reason someone – ”

Oliver, beyond used to her rambles, silenced her with a kiss. It was rare he did that, preferring to listen to whatever crazy thoughts were cooking up in her mind – though she didn’t understand why he enjoyed it – but they were on a time crunch and she appreciated him getting her back on track.

“Right, encore. Fans. Red Rocks,” she said, taking a step back. Oliver dropped his arms but kept her hand in his, walking with her back to the wings where she was instantly given her acoustic guitar while someone touched up her makeup.

Felicity walked back out on stage, practically floating, and waved at the roaring crowd.

“Alright, I guess I can sing one more,” she said, laughing when the crowd erupted again. She never got over this feeling: hot lights, cool nights, and thousands of eyes on her.

Then she glanced over at Oliver, to the only pair of eyes that truly mattered in the end, and couldn’t stop the love-sick smile that took over her face.

“Usually I sing _The Foundry_ for my encore, as you all know,” she said, waiting a few moments for the new cheers at the mention of her first single off her second album – the one she was touring for – to die down. “But I think I want to try something new.”

She played a few chords on her guitar while she spoke, making sure her hands still remembered the new arrangement. “I haven’t even sung this outside my house before. It’s a mashup of _Two Things_ and _Remarkable_. Tonight is really special for me, as you know if you follow me on…any social media,” she joked, laughing along with her fans. “So I want to play something special for you. I hope you like it.”

The best quality video of that song – taken by Catherine Chang, the thirteen-year-old girl from the Make-A-Wish Foundation who sat in the front row – trended on social media for over three days and became one of the most-watched Felicity Smoak videos on YouTube.

Catherine also caught a picture of Felicity Smoak hugging her long-time boyfriend Oliver Queen in the wings, looking like they had literal hearts in their eyes, and that was the picture the press ran when their engagement was announced four months later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Feel free to prompt me on Tumblr. (Same name.)


	15. Prompt: WHEW!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c0bra5nak3 on Tumblr prompted me with this one! Feel free to prompt me over there if you want... I love to hear from you!

“Whew! What a night!”

Felicity collapsed on to her couch, settling in even more when Thea plopped down next to her.

“Oh what a night… late September… 2017,” Thea slurred, dissolving into giggles before she could get any further.

Felicity laughed too, helpless to succumb to a giggle attack. She and Thea leaned into each other, limbs slow and clumsy from the alcohol they’d consumed earlier in the evening.

“Alright, drink these,” Dinah said, walking over from the kitchen with two large glasses of water in each hand. Felicity should’ve known the Black Canary would’ve had a high alcohol tolerance. Though Felicity wasn’t sure if a correlation could be made between badass fighting skills and how much someone could drink. It would require a control group, and Oliver, Digg, and the rest of the team were guys so it would be different…

“Yeah, water time,” Dinah repeated, shoving the water into Felicity’s hands and watching as she drank it. “I didn’t believe Oliver when he told me you’d start babbling about scientific experiments.”

“Why not?” Thea asked, having finished her water in one, long gulp. “Ollie knows Felicity better than _anyone_ ‘cause they’re _so in love_.” Thea turned into Felicity and made a face, then giggled again.

Felicity was indignant. “We are! I love him _so_ much… He’s so wonderful…”

“Okay, okay, that’s nice,” Dinah interrupted. “I think we all know that since you’re marrying him this weekend.”

Felicity broke into a wide, incandescent smile and sighed, throwing herself back on the couch. Dinah quickly grabbed the empty water glass and sat it on the coffee table. “Yeah, I am. We’re getting married. This weekend. He’s going to be my _husband_ ,” she said dreamily, staring at the ceiling.

“Finally!” Thea cheered, sitting up on her knees to pump her fist into the sky.

Dinah’s expression softened and she held her hands out to the other women. “Alright, come on, ladies. It’s bed time. The rehearsal dinner isn’t until seven tomorrow, but we have spa appointments starting before noon,” she reminded them.

Felicity was so, so grateful she had Thea and Dinah with her. Caitlin, Iris, and the others would be coming for the actual wedding the day after tomorrow, but they hadn’t been able to take the time to come for the bachelorette festivities. Thea had been with her for years now, and Dinah was a welcome addition to their little girl group. It was so nice having another woman around, and she’d gotten very close to the new vigilante since she joined the team.

Felicity knew Dinah was only acting excited about the spa stuff to make Felicity happy. The other woman wasn’t much for pampering, but she was entirely behind whatever Felicity wanted to do in the days before her wedding.

They moved slowly up the stairs to the master bedroom, where they’d all collapse into the bed together and wake groggily in the morning for a day at Starlight Spa.

“I miss Oliver,” Felicity said into the darkness after they’d all settled in to sleep. Her fiance was out with Digg, Rene, and Curtis and would be spending the night at Digg’s house. They’d barely been apart since they got back together.

“Don’t call him. It’s the rules,” Thea mumbled.

“But I _miss_ him,” she pouted.

Dinah patted her arm. “You’ll see him tomorrow. Go to sleep and it’ll happen faster,” she said sleepily.

With that sound logic, Felicity closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I don't update this enough... In my defense, I have about 12 unfinished oneshots just sitting on my laptop XD

**Author's Note:**

> Well, what did you think? Drop me a comment, a kudo, and check me out on Tumblr!


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